Ever since Arch Manning enrolled at Texas in mid-December, people from outside the program have tried to conjure a scenario where he gets on the field as a freshman. First it was ponderings on a potential quarterback battle with incumbent starter Quinn Ewers that was never a reality. Then, when Ewers went down with a Grade 2 AC joint sprain against Houston, it was wonderings aloud up until kickoff how much the five-star would play even though head coach Steve Sarkisian already announced another starter during the week.

So not only did redshirt freshman quarterback Maalik Murphy have Texas's Big 12 championship and College Football Playoff hopes resting on his shoulders for his first-career start, he had zero margin for error before viewers clamored for another guy to replace him. Murphy looked as if he didn't feel any of that pressure. He bounced up and down with a smile on his face when he first took the field against BYU on Saturday and proceeded to pilot the Longhorns to a comfortable 35-6 victory.

Tthat's an admittedly simplistic and rosy summation of Murphy's day. Overall, he was OK, completing 16-of-25 passes for 170 yards, two touchdowns and an intercetpion. He had a couple moments where he looked overwhelmed. He threw a pass to no one on his second drive of the game which BYU picked off. He fumbled when Texas was on the ten-yard-line going in for a score. Two other times the Longhorns got inside the five-yard-line and turned it over on downs. 

Make no mistake - Murphy must play better next week against the buzz saw that is Kansas State.

"It's unfortunate, he had a couple of those turnovers which were, quite frankly, because we were a little bit out of rhythm," Sarkisian said. "I think we can clean some of that rhythm up as he gets a little more comfortable."

But the quarterback that everyone tried to forget about should be commended for keeping Texas's season alive. And when he did have those freshman mistakes, he responded admirably. Murphy threw a beautiful 30-yard touchdown to Adonai Mitchell at the end of the first half. He lasered a ball to Mitchell for another touchdown to ice the game in the fourth quarter. 

The entire team stepped their game up around the young signal caller, too. Xavier Worthy got the scoring started with a punt return touchdown. Jonathon Brooks was dominant again with 6.1 yards a carry. The defense forced three turnovers to bail out the offense failing to punch it in in the red zone. 

"The way that he responded from both of those two turnovers I thought (was) great," Sarkisian said. "Malik's got really good composure about him. And I think a little bit of it was the guys wanted to play so well around him."

There will be no quarterback controversy if Ewers is healthy enough to play, but Murphy proved Saturday he can captain the ship while Ewers is out. Does this game cement that he can beat Kansas State, as hot as any team in the country? Absolutely not. But he's going to give them a good chance to win. Murphy is quarterbacking a team that can't afford another loss with a quarterback behind him that's more famous. The way he rebounded from two turnovers Saturday told me he's mentally capable of not only handling this situation, but thriving in it.