It was a good day for Texas. Oklahoma lost. The Longhorns got a B+ performance from their backup quarterback, and the defense got its grub on against outmatched BYU. Texas was too physical for BYU to handle in every phase of the contest. Even the special teams got into the act as the Longhorns blasted their way to a 35-6 win and moved into a tie for first place in the Big 12.
Texas (7-1, 4-1) hit the switch and dropped a dominating performance against the competition for the first time since the 40-14 beatdown over Kansas on Sept. 30. Longhorns fans waited nearly a month for this type of performance. The win kept alive their hopes for a spot in the conference title game and possibly an invitation to the College Football Playoff.
BYU (5-3, 2-3) was in trouble from the outset against Texas. The Cougars have struggled all year to generate some consistency on offense. They lost the fight at the line of the scrimmage against a physical defense. Texas defensive coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski and Jeff Choate put together a game plan that wreaked havoc for 60 minutes.
First Impressions
Texas got a boost early when Xavier Worthy returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown at 12:08 of the first quarter. It was a good day for the special teams and Longhorns freshman Maalik Murphy. Playing for the injured Quinn Ewers,Murphy threw an interception not long after that, but it turned out to be merely a speed bump. He was 7-of-11 for 52 yards in the first quarter as the Longhorns rallied around their young signal caller. Gavin Holmes snared an interception off a pass deflected by Jahdae Barron as the Texas defense stifled BYU’s offense.
Murphy turned the ball over again on a fumble early in the second quarter. The Texas defense, spearheaded by T’Vondre Sweat, played much of the first half in the Cougars’ backfield. The defense held BYU to a field goal after the Cougars drove 64 yards on 16 plays over a 9:57 span. It kept the Longhorns ahead, 14-3, and Murphy regrouped after the long stint on the sidelines. He led Texas down the field and capped the drive with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Adonai Mitchell that stifled any momentum BYU had gained. Murphy completed 10 of 15 passes for 103 yards by halftime and looked confident despite the two turnovers.
Defense Rolls 7-11
The Texas defense had the hot hand all day. Everything worked against a BYU offense yet to work itself out of a funk in its first year of Big 12 competition. The result was all static, no breaks for the beleaguered Cougars.
BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis was forced to operate under heavy enemy fire most of the time. Michael Taaffe’s interception and 45-yard return to the BYU 6-yard line with 9:11 left in the game was the final nail in the coffin. The turnover put the ball back in the hands of Murphy, who connected with Mitchell two plays later to stretch Texas’ margin to 28-6.
BYU’s rushing attack never got on track. The Cougars looked every bit like a Mountain West team playing against a top-tier Big 12 defense. Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford led the Longhorns with 11 tackles, while Sweat and freshman safety Derek Williams each had seven. Texas will take all the credit for the strong defensive performance considering how shaky it looked the past two games against Houston and Oklahoma.
Offense Cashes In
Jonathon Brooks ran for 98 yards on 16 carries and caught four passes for 40 yards. He’s the dual-purpose back who gives Offensive Coordinator Kyle Flood the versatility to implement the entire playbook. The sophomore was called upon to take the pressure off the new quarterback and he executed the assignment flawlessly. He staked his claim as a front-runner for team MVP in the Kansas game and has been on a roll ever since.
Credit goes to Murphy for not locking in on a single receiver. He distributed the ball evenly to Mitchell, Worthy, Brooks, and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders. Jaydon Blue entered the game late, and the sophomore continued to show his future may be bright with four carries for 44 yards and a score.
Is Murphy Good Enough?
It was a good day for Texas and its new quarterback. Murphy frequently threw off his back foot and put too much air under the ball. He completed 64 percent of his passes despite those flawed mechanics. Murphy fit the role of game manager nearly to perfection, completing 16 of 25 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns. That was all Texas needed from him and he delivered.
It was Murphy’s first college start after sitting out all last year with an injury. Meanwhile, Ewers’ status is week-to-week on the injury report, and Murphy’s debut performance was good enough to win the game and keep freshman Arch Manning on the sideline. Texas faces a more formidable challenge next week when Kansas State comes to Austin. The BYU game was a solid warmup performance for Murphy with the Wildcats on deck.
Rematch With The ‘Cats
The Big 12 standings were already crowded at the top before Kansas pulled a 38-33 stunner over Oklahoma. Ultimately, the upset was the first conference loss for the Sooners and threw the Big 12 power structure into a lurch. November shapes up as a battle royale between Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas State, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State, with West Virginia and Kansas also poised to move into contention.
It’s not like Kansas State isn’t the defending conference champion. It’s not like nobody knows the Wildcats have a two-headed monster at quarterback in the form of senior Will Howard and freshman Avery Johnson. And it should come as no surprise they have the Big 12’s best defense in terms of points per game. The Wildcats’ prowess on both sides of the ball is the league’s worst-kept secret. Next week’s matchup with the team from Manhattan now becomes the biggest game of the season.
