NEW ORLEANS – Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy knew what it is like to be overshadowed by a defensive line teammate before starring next to T’Vondre Sweat for the Big 12 champion Longhorns. 

Back at DeSoto, Murphy was a four-star defensive tackle prospect who ranked as the 394th overall prospect in the country by 247Sports Composite. His teammate back then, Shemar Turner, was a five-star talent who ranked 22nd nationally as a prospect in the 2021 class. But that doesn’t mean he plays second fiddle. He didn’t then, and he doesn’t now. The Texas defensive line, like it was at DeSoto, is more duet than single. 

No one in South Dallas is surprised that Murphy was named as the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. He set a record with 14 sacks as a senior at DeSoto, surpassing greats like Von Miller. DeSoto coaches say Murphy and Turner competed at everything – for sacks, for weight room records, cards. Murphy was incline benching 315 pounds with relative ease in high school. He could front squat 295. 

“Ain’t nobody messing with Byron Murphy in the weight room,” said Kerry Sweeny, DeSoto wide receiver coach and recruiting coordinator. “It was man amongst boys.” 

DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis puts Murphy in the same class as Miller and Turner. “That’s the top three,” he says. He compares the current Texas disrupter to Aaron Donald and said it took Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham 20 seconds to offer Murphy after stopping by DeSoto during a weight room session. 

The 6-1, 308-pound Murphy was a linebacker when he first started playing high school football at DeSoto. He took to defensive tackle as he grew, utilizing that quick twitch and athleticism that once served him well in space to sack quarterbacks and wreck run games. 

Murphy recorded eight tackles for loss and five sacks this season. The Texas defense allowed 17.5 points per game – down nearly two touchdowns since 2021 – and 2.87 yards per rush. Him and Sweat are the best defensive tackle tandem in college football. A junior who arrived in the 2021 class, Murphy credits Sweat with helping him acclimate to the college game and to the University of Texas. 

“Sweat, Coburn, Moro all those guys took me under their wing,” Murphy said Thursday at a Sugar Bowl press conference. “He’s taught me a lot since I’ve been here. I’ve also taught him a lot off and on the field. Making him a better player, pushing him to work harder, and vice versa.” 

Texas won its first Big 12 championship since 2009. A win over Washington on Jan. 1 in the Sugar Bowl puts the Longhorns back in the national title game for the first time that season. Two seasons ago, this program was 5-7. Three seasons ago, the locker room was splintered and Texas fired its head coach after a 7-3 season. Players on the team attribute the turnaround to culture. 

Murphy described his relationship with Sweat and the defensive tackle room as a brotherhood. That brotherhood put Texas back into national relevance. Without Murphy and Sweat, Texas is playing in a bowl game and opt outs would be the main topic of conversation in Austin. Both could be early NFL draft picks in 2024. 

The first player off the team plane when it landed in New Orleans was left tackle Christian Jones – the lone remaining player from the 2018 class and the only current Longhorn to travel to any bowl outside of the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio with Texas. The next two players to exit were Sweat and Murphy. Sweat might be larger, but both must play big on Monday to beat the Huskies and send Texas to the national title game. 

Washington ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the Pac-12 championship game win over Oregon. Quarterback Michael Pennix is always dangerous, but especially so when the Huskies are two-dimensional. Washington won the Joe Moore Award the Joe Moore Award for best offensive line in the country. Still, don’t expect the Longhorns to kowtow to anyone. Even the suggestion of a team running up the middle on Texas bothered Murphy. 

“Oh, yes, I take that very personal,” Murphy said about teams attempting to run up the middle on Texas. “We don’t allow that. We don’t tolerate that. We don’t care who you is, we take that personal.”