There were times in his career when Tyler Murphy was so buried on Florida’s depth chart that he wondered if he would ever throw a pass. Merely two weeks ago, his status was essentially “in case of emergency, break glass.”
Suddenly, though, he was thrust into the starting quarterback job when Jeff Driskel suffered a broken leg against Tennessee. The whirlwind might have been overwhelming to some, but Murphy has been as smooth and cool as the jazz he listens to before games.
“That’s one of his strengths: demeanor and how he handles things,” Gators coach Will Muschamp said. “You want to see those things — a guy who doesn’t get too high or too low. He doesn’t get caught in the moment, so to speak, as far as his emotions, and that’s something you want at that position.”
Murphy’s journey from fourth-string afterthought to starting quarterback continues Saturday when No. 18 Florida hosts Arkansas (7 p.m., ESPN2). In wins over Tennessee and Kentucky, he completed 71.9 percent of his throws and had two touchdown passes and two rushing TDs with one interception. He also chipped in 126 yards running.
Florida (3-1, 2-0 SEC) expects a sellout crowd for Ben Hill Griffin Stadium’s first night game in nearly two years, but that is unlikely to rattle Murphy as he stares down the Razorbacks (3-2, 0-1).
“I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m comfortable with: prepare and watch a lot of film and keep pushing guys to do well,” he said. “I don’t need to add any more stress on myself. I just have to maintain focus on managing the game and getting first downs.”
Florida’s lively defense barked at him throughout training camp and was disappointed that none of it got to him. He seems immune to the noise.
“I don’t think Murph listens too much,” defensive tackle Damien Jacobs said. “He just keeps calm. I’ve never really seen him out of his comfort zone.”
Murphy has had snafus in his brief tenure as the starter, but he did not let them ruin him.
One rough transaction took place in last week’s 24-7 victory at Kentucky when one of his teammates didn’t run the correct route and Murphy threw an interception. He reacted quickly, sprinting down the sideline to tackle Wildcats linebacker Josh Forrest and save a touchdown.
He quickly had the ball in his hands again after Gators cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III pulled down his own pick. Coming off the failed drive the previous time out, Murphy led the team 64 yards for a field goal.
“After the interception, you would expect a guy to be down about things, but he understood what happened on the play,” Muschamp said. “He could have thrown it better. We could have run the route better. He bounced back and took us down the field.”
An equally ugly miscue known as “the face fumble” happened against Tennessee, and the video rapidly spread around the Internet. It was one of the first shotgun snaps Murphy took, and he was still yelling to his teammates when the ball flew into his face mask and bounced away for a turnover. Murphy, a redshirt junior, knew it was his fault because the play called for the snap to come the first sound he made.
When offensive coordinator Brent Pease got him on the headset, Murphy told him right away, “I know. I’ve got it. I’ll fix it,” and was ready to move on to the next topic.
“What do you say? He knew what the problem was,” Pease said. “He said he’d get it handled, so he got it handled.”
Aside from those slips, it is difficult to find flaws in Murphy’s performance so far. He completed his first 13 passes against Kentucky and has a total of nine incompletions in his two games. The coaching staff credited him for making checks at the line of scrimmage on running plays, one of which resulted in Matt Jones going 67 yards.
He shows no indication of being intimidated by what lies ahead as the team gets ready to face LSU, Georgia and South Carolina over the next seven weeks. While his first two games came against two of the SEC’s worst teams, the Gators think he will keep his composure regardless of the pressure.
“I don’t want him to fix anything; just keep playing,” Pease said. “Keep just being yourself. Just go out, execute and have a scope of what you’re controlling. Be good at that.”
