AUSTIN, Texas — With a new quarterback at the helm, it wasn't always pretty for the Texas Longhorns, but the nation's No. 7 ranked team still came away with an important Big 12 win against BYU, 35-6 on Saturday.
The Longhorns came into Saturday's matchup as a bit of an enigma, with redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy making his first career start against a formidable Cougars defense.
Early on in the matchup, it was evident that the Longhorns' game plan revolved around utilizing its vaunted running game, with running back Jonathon Brooks once again proving to be the focal point of the team's offensive success.
Brooks finished the game with 98 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. He also caught four passes for 40 yards.
The running game as a unit was effictive all game, with Brooks, CJ Baxter, Savion Red, Keilan Robinson and Jaydon Blue combining for 184 yards on ground. Blue also added a touchdown of his own in the fourth quarter.
Entering the matchup, all eyes were rightfully on the aforementioned Mallik Murphy, as the redshirt freshman quarterback found himself at the command of the offense for the first time in his career.
Murphy's numbers on Saturday weren't gaudy, but certainly respectable. The young quarterback finished with 170 yards through the air on 16-of-25 pass attempts. Murphy threw the first two touchdowns of his career to A.D. Mitchell, the first being a 30-yarder in the second quarter and the second being the proverbial dagger in the fourth quarter from 13 yards.
Mitchell was the Longhorns leading receiver on Saturday, hauling in three passes for 59 yards and the two touchdowns. Receiving running mate Xavier Worthy didn't have a huge statistical game offensively but kicked off the scoring with a crowd-igniting 74-yard punt return touchdown in the first quarter.
Defensively, the Longhorns were able to frustrate Cougar quarterback Kedon Slovis all game, forcing the transfer signal caller into throwing two costly interceptions and losing a fumble, keeping the BYU offense out of the end zone all game.
The win now pushes Texas to 7-1 on the season, tied for first in the Big 12 after Oklahoma's loss to Kansas earlier in the day.
Up next for the Longhorns is a date with reigning Big 12 champ Kansas State at DKR next Saturday, Nov. 4. After struggling early in the season, the Wildcats enter the matchup on a three-game winning streak, averaging 40 points in each of those wins.