Maalik Murphy guides Texas to win in first-career start, keeps Texas's Big 12 Championship hopes alive

Ever since Arch Manning enrolled at Texas in mid-December, people from outside the program have tried to conjure a scenario where he gets on the field as a freshman. First it was ponderings on a potential quarterback battle with incumbent starter Quinn Ewers that was never a reality. Then, when Ewers went down with a Grade 2 AC joint sprain against Houston, it was wonderings aloud up until kickoff how much the five-star would play even though head coach Steve Sarkisian already announced another starter during the week.

So not only did redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy have Texas's Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff hopes resting on his shoulders for his first-career start, he had zero margin for error before viewers clamored for another guy to replace him. Murphy looked as if he didn't feel any of that pressure. He bounced up and down with a smile on his face when he first took the field against BYU on Saturday and proceeded to pilot the Longhorns to a comfortable 35-6 victory.