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Maalik Murphy will be the stating signal caller when the Duke Blue Devils take the field in Week 1 against the Elon Phoenix. The transfer from Texas was named QB1 this week with the opener just 10 days away.
Murphy appeared in seven games last year with the Longhorns, completing 56% of his attempts while making two starts.
The passer moved on from Austin as the team prepped for the College Football Playoff. Had he not been on the roster, that national championship pursuit might’ve ended earlier.
Murphy was called upon to replace an injured Quinn Ewers in games against BYU and Kansas State. In those contests, he combined to throw for 418 yards and three scores.
Texas won both games.
Still, he returned to the bench when Ewers got healthy, and in December, he decided to find a new home. The decision will pay off as he was given the starting nod in Durham.
Sources: Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy has won the Blue Devil starting job and will start the opener against Elon. Murphy is a Texas transfer who won both his starts last year (BYU and Kansas State) for the Longhorns and threw for 477 yards and three touchdowns. pic.twitter.com/sL0tZbcTlx
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) August 19, 2024
Duke had to fight to land Maalik Murphy’s commitment as interest in the gunslinger was high. Even before his redshirt freshman season in 2023, it was reported that teams tampered in attempts to lure him from Austin.
He opted to remain on the Longhorns roster at the time but decided to move on eight months later.
Murphy was highly touted coming out of high school, rated as a four-star prospect by most major recruiting services. He committed to Texas in hopes of being Ewers’ heir-apparent, but the veteran QB’s decision to return for one more season put a kink in that plan.
The decision to leave boosted Arch Manning up the depth chart as he’ll now handle QB2 duties in the 2024 season.
Murphy, meanwhile, will look ahead to his future with the Blue Devils as he hopes to make his mark in the ACC.