QB Murray leaving A&M for Oklahoma
He was expected to start bowl game
Kyler Murray is transferring to Oklahoma, the school announced Thursday.
The former Texas A&M quarterback and Allen (Texas) High product announced last week that he would leave the Aggies after only one season.
Murray, a two-sport standout who also plays baseball, will have to sit out a full year per NCAA transfer rules. He’ll enroll at OU for the spring 2016 semester.
Baker Mayfield is expected to return to Oklahoma at quarterback for his senior season in 2016. OU is playing in the Capital One Orange Bowl semifinal on New Year’s Eve in Miami.
Quarterback Kyle Allen, who also left A&M recently, had reportedly listed Oklahoma as a possible destination.
Allen and Murray jockeyed for the starting job throughout the season and both left before the Aggies play in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Dec. 30.
Murray went 42-0 as the starter at Allen High and is the son of former Aggie great Kevin Murray.
At 5-foot-11, some project his best professional prospects in baseball. He could have opted to transfer to a junior college to become eligible for the 2016 professional baseball draft.
Allen announced his decision to transfer a week before Murray’s decision to also leave became public. A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said last week that he expected Murray to start in the bowl game despite missing bowl practice last Wednesday after the Murray family met with Sumlin. Murray’s decision to leave anyway became official the next day.
Murray had an up-anddown freshman season after arriving at A&M on June 1.
Murray started three games, but didn’t take a snap in the final two games. He finished the season 72-of-121 for 686 yards and five touchdowns to seven interceptions. He rushed for 335 yards and a touchdown.
WASHINGTON STATE: Former East Carolina offensive coordinator Dave Nichol was hired as new outside wide receivers coach. He will begin his duties with Washington State next week after the Cougars play Miami in the Sun Bowl. Nichol replaces Graham Harrell, who has been hired as the offensive coordinator at North Texas.
Nichol will reunite with Washington State coach Mike Leach. Nichol was an offensive line assistant for three seasons at Texas Tech under Leach before spending five seasons at Arizona. For the past four seasons, Nichol was at East Carolina. He spent the first three seasons as the wide receivers coach, then was elevated to offensive coordinator this past season.
CLIFF HARRIS AWARD: Marqui Christian, a safety from Midwestern State University in Texas, is being honored as the top defensive player among small-college football teams. The award is named for the ex-Dallas Cowboy who played at Ouachita Baptist in Arkansas.
Christian had 10 or more tackles in five games this season and his 295 career tackles is a record at the NCAA Division II school. The senior from Spring, Texas, was named previously to The Associated Press Little All-America team.
Bluffton’s Ryan Aelker and Mount Union’s Tom Lally were the top vote-getters in NCAA Division III, and Adam Sauder of Taylor University in Indiana received the most votes for NAIA schools.