'This is an open-book test': With Ewers injured, attention shifts to Murphy and Manning

If Texas had played BYU on Monday, Steve Sarkisian says, Maalik Murphy would have been the Longhorns' starting quarterback.

However, Texas and BYU won't play until 2:30 p.m. Saturday. So the Longhorns have a little time to adjust to their temporary life after Quinn Ewers. Sarkisian shared at his weekly press conference Monday that Ewers is "week-to-week" with the shoulder injury he sustained in a 31-24 win over Houston this past weekend.

While it waits for Ewers to return, Texas must prepare either Murphy or freshman Arch Manning to lead the offense. Both players will get plenty of reps in practices this week.

"We're fortunate," Sarkisian said. "Not every school is as fortunate as we are to have the quarterback room that we have and the connectivity that that room has."

More: How do you describe Steve Sarkisian in one word? We asked 11 former BYU teammates

Murphy, a redshirt freshman, has played in four games this season. Most of those were mop-up assignments, but he quarterbacked the Longhorns on a run-heavy drive that won the game against Houston.

Sarkisian described Murphy as a natural passer who "throws a very beautiful ball, and I think there's not a throw that he can't make." Sarkisian also praised Murphy's leadership qualities and his understanding of what Texas is trying to do on offense.

Not surprisingly, the players who spoke with the media Monday also threw their support behind Murphy. Safety Michael Taaffe said Murphy was "the first one in the building, last one out." Running back Jonathon Brooks took note of Murphy's arm talent. Senior linebacker David Gbenda said Murphy has enough confidence to talk trash after big plays in practice and take control of the music being played in the locker room.

More: Did Texas receive high or low marks in its win over Houston? Our report card doles out the grades

"I feel like he's ready for the moment that he's been placed in right now because of the confidence he sees we have in him," left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. said. "In practice all the time, he makes so many plays, and everybody'd be so all awed by it."

Like Murphy, wide receiver Xavier Worthy is a California product. In fact, Worthy remembers seeing Murphy play during a seven-on-seven competition in high school.

"He was throwing it," Worthy said. "He was killing our defense on seven-on-seven. I was getting mad."

So who won?

"We blew his team out," Worthy replied.

Murphy has thrown only eight passes in his collegiate career. Manning, a five-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle, has not played this season.

On Monday, Sarkisian was asked about preparing young and inexperienced quarterbacks to replace injured starters. Back when he was coaching Washington in 2011, redshirt freshman Nick Montana had to start against Oregon State in place of an injured Keith Price. The same scenario played out in the 2013 Oregon State game for Sarkisian and the Huskies with Cyler Miles, who was also a redshirt freshman.

"It's not always about the idea of the play and putting it on a whiteboard because there's a lot of plays that look good, but what do they do well and then how do we ensure here's the concepts that we think they run really well?" Sarkisian said. "They don't have to run the whole playbook. They need to run what they run really well. And then how do we devise a plan that incorporates what they do well with the personnel formation, motion, shifts, run game to tie it all together. That's kind of how you do it."

Murphy and Manning "are elite competitors," he said. "I'm not concerned about them fighting through when adversity strikes. But I do want to make sure that I'm giving them the opportunity to do the things that they've shown us that they're good at and that they like because Saturday is going to be a test enough; it doesn't need to be a final exam as far as let's test them on things that they might know or might not know. I want to test them on the stuff that I know they know really well. I hope they get 100%. This is an open-book test. I hope they play great."

As for Ewers, not many specifics were given about either the third-year quarterback's injury or his timeline. Orangebloods reported Sunday that Ewers had suffered an AC joint sprain. ESPN and 247Sports later published similar reports.

Sarkisian also didn't clarify when Ewers was injured. The quarterback, however, initially tried to play through the pain. Sarkisian didn't think Ewers exacerbated his injury by continuing to play.

During his final possession, Ewers landed on his right shoulder after he was sacked on the first play of an 11-play drive. (His right arm was eventually placed in a sling.) Later in that drive, he led with his left shoulder on a collision with Houston defensive lineman David Ugwoegbu. During that possession, Ewers threw four short passes and misfired on two throws into the end zone.

"Football, you get banged up, and a lot of guys play through a lot of things, and I think that's one of the beauties of our sport is that you find out about yourself," Sarkisian said. "You have to dig deep, and how much can I overcome; what's my level of perseverance? I think he made some throws in there that he felt like OK, I can do this, and then made a throw that really challenged him and said I'm not going to be equipped enough to play the game the way I want to play throughout the ballgame."

Ranked No. 7, Texas (6-1, 3-1) will host a BYU team that is 5-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play. The Cougars rank 98th nationally in passing defense. BYU is allowing 246.4 passing yards per game, and its secondary has surrendered 13 passing touchdowns. BYU cornerback Eddie Heckard, who intercepted a pass and scored on a fumble recovery against Texas Tech last Saturday, was named the Big 12's defensive player of the week Monday.

Saturday's game

BYU (5-2, 2-2) at No. 7 Texas (6-1, 3-1), 2:30 p.m., ABC, 1300

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas turns to Maalik Murphy, Arch Manning in Quinn Ewers' absence