HIS TIME TO LEAD
Murray puts MLB aside to guide Sooners
NORMAN, Okla. – He knew going in it was only temporary. Turned out, it was a blur. Or he was, really, when he took the game’s first snap and bolted 66 yards to the West Virginia 4.
And in the moment, you could understand if Kyler Murray had mixed feelings. Not so much that he didn’t score but what came after.
On the next play, Murray handed off. Touchdown. Then he headed back to the bench, handing the keys to Oklahoma’s exquisite machine back over to Baker Mayfield.
Murray knew Mayfield’s suspension against the Mountaineers last November would last only one possession. He was fine with it. But even with the highlight, for- give him for wishing the moment had lasted just a little longer, that he’d gotten more than a taste of what it’s like to be Oklahoma’s starting quarterback.
“Obviously, at that moment, it’s what’s best for the team,” Murray says. “My job is to go put the ball in the end zone. And at the same time, to me — that’s what I can do. I’ve always done that. That’s just another play to me.”
That brief flash last season of Murray’s tantalizing potential sets up one of the most fascinating storylines of this college football season. Mayfield is gone. The Heisman Trophy winner who became the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft leaves a palpable void. Stepping into his role is a 5-11, 195-pound junior who was the No. 9 overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft.
Murray is a five-tool player and former five-star recruit, but can he replace Mayfield? Can anyone?
“I know the standard of the position at this university,” he says. “It’s my job to uphold it.”
At one level, Murray’s selection as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback qualifies as one of the least surprising announcements of the offseason. The competition lasted a little deeper into preseason practices than many expected; there were hints that third-year sophomore Austin Kendall was pushing very hard and the competition was close.
But Murray has long been considered Mayfield’s certain successor, and his decision in June, when the Athletics chose him in the first round and he decided to play football this season anyway, only made his ascension seem more certain.
About that. Murray says he’s thought about buying a car, and it would probably have been a Mercedes, but he says he hasn’t spent much of the $4.7 million (about $100,000 less than Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley will make this season, if you’re wondering). The plan is to play only this season and then switch to baseball full time.
For any one wondering, Murray insists his baseball future won’t impact his current drive for football. He describes himself as “hungry” to return to action after three years on the shelf.
And yeah, Murray understands we’re all wondering what will happen when he gets the keys to Riley’s machine for more than a test drive.
“For me, there’s no pressure, honestly,” he says. “I’ve been playing this game my whole life. I’ve been training to do this my whole life. I’ve been playing this position since I was about 9 years old. For me, it’s just, ‘Come out here and be the best quarterback I can be.’ ”
Whether that’s good enough to maintain Oklahoma’s status as elite or to reach the Sooners’ lofty expectations, well, we’re all about to find out. It’ll be different. And given Murray’s intriguing skill set, it might look a lot different, too.
At Allen High School in suburban Dallas, he was nearly unstoppable as a run-pass threat: 42 victories and no losses, three consecutive state championships, more than 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards. As a freshman at Texas A&M, he showed flashes of brilliance in eight games (three starts) but also iffy accuracy and alarming lapses (seven interceptions and five TDs).
How much of that was inexperience, a true freshman treading water, is hard to know. That’s Murray’s contention — “I was young,” he says — and the idea he has matured in three years isn’t an outlandish suggestion.
Murray left Texas A&M in December 2015, just after he’d become the starter by default (when starter Kyle Allen announced he was transferring). The double exit was taken as a sign of deep dysfunction inside the Aggies program, but along with his uneven performances as a freshman, it led to questions about Murray’s readiness for college football. The intervening two seasons, spent mostly off the field and out of the spotlight, have been good for him, according to Riley.
“It’s a chance for him to kind of step back in a way and really learn what it takes to be a very good player at this level,” Riley says. “It allowed him to settle in mentally and really become more of a student of the game. He’s grown in a lot of areas, and all that’s really made him ready for this moment.”
Says Murray: “Coach Riley has helped me out a lot. Obviously, sitting behind Baker, just getting involved in the system, learning everything about it, has been just helpful to me.”
And he insists what we’ve seen — in seven games, he was 18 of 21 for 359 yards with three TDs — is only a taste.
“That’s not the highlight or what I’m capable of,” he says. “I can’t wait. It’s been a long time coming.”
No matter how good Murray is or can be, he’s up against a nearly impossible challenge.
Mayfield is the best quarterback in school history, a dynamic catalyst who elevated the Oklahoma program. While the Sooners are undoubtedly talented and still seem like the Big 12 Conference’s best team, there’s a sense that the offense will take a step back — must take a step back.
“That’s nothing new,” says junior running back Rodney Anderson, one of six returning offensive starters. “People always seem to doubt us for some reason, and then we end up in good standing at the end of this thing.”
Murray says the goal is not to equal Oklahoma’s recent success: three consecutive Big 12 championships and College Football Playoff appearances in 2015 and 2017. It’s to better it.
“We’ve got a mission to go get and things to accomplish,” he says. “For us, falling short the last two years, we haven’t won a national championship in a while. That’s the goal.”
And he adds: “We all know in that locker room what we’ve got here. So for me, it’s just come out here every day and try to get better, try to lead my guys. I know what I can do.”