Maalik Murphy makes bombshell move as Arch Manning scores big promotion
Austin, Texas - Maalik Murphy is officially out of Texas, opening the door for Arch Manning to take over as backup starting quaterback for the college football team.
As predicted, Texas football is losing one of its many talented quarterbacks as Murphy has officially entered the transfer portal and won't be playing in the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl.
The tough decision to opt out of the semifinal is due to the inconvenient college football calendar schedule.
The NCAA transfer portal opened on December 4, but it closed the day after Texas' CFP semifinal game. This left Murphy with almost no time to find a new school.
Even more heartbreaking, if Texas wins the semifinal against Washington and the national championship, Murphy won't have those achievements on his record.
Expressing his reluctance to leave before the Sugar Bowl matchup against Washington, Murphy told ESPN on Wednesday, "I hate it. I'm super invested in this team. Everything that we've done along the way and all the work we've put in together, it's hard to walk away, especially at this point during the season."
With Murphy officially out, third-string quarterback Arch Manning is now the backup quarterback, with the opportunity to compete for the starting position next season.
Where will Maalik Murphy wind up as Arch Manning takes over as Texas' backup QB?
Just last month, Archie, Manning's grandfather, suggested that the best route for his grandson would be to secure the backup starter position in 2024 and then take the reins as the starter in 2025.
With Murphy officially transferring, Manning's Cinderella story, as outlined by his grandfather (fairy grandfather?), is falling perfectly into place.
As for Murphy, the next few weeks won't be a walk in the park as the young quarterback now needs to find a new program to invest in.
Fortunately for him, though, he'll have plenty of schools to choose from, as many programs are in need of quarterbacks — whether it's fellow SEC schools like LSU and Oklahoma or a range of Big Ten schools including USC, Washington, UCLA, Michigan State, and more!
Maalik Murphy will have until January 2 to find a new program to take helm as quarterback.
Cover photo: Collage: RON JENKINS & Tim Warner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP