Maalik Murphy hit Adonai Mitchell on two scoring passes, Jonathon Brooks racked up 138 combined yards and a rushing touchdown, and Xavier Worthy returned a punt for another touchdown as No. 7 Texas overwhelmed BYU 35-6 on Saturday in a Big 12 game in Austin, Texas.
The Longhorns (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) won their second straight game and moved back into a first-place tie in the conference thanks to No. 6 Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas. Texas jumped to an early lead and was never seriously challenged despite failing to produce points on three drives inside the BYU 12-yard line.
Murphy, making his first start of the season in relief of the injured Quinn Ewers (shoulder), passed for 170 yards but was also intercepted once and fumbled. Brooks amassed 98 yards on the ground and another 40 yards receiving, finishing just shy of his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season.
Kedon Slovis threw for 197 yards and two interceptions for BYU (5-3, 2-3).
Worthy raced untouched with a 74-yard punt return for a touchdown to give the Longhorns a 7-0 lead with 12:08 left in the first quarter. Brooks added to the lead with a 4-yard scoring plunge off right guard with 4:10 to play in the quarter.
BYU got on the board when it drove 64 yards in 16 plays to set up a 24-yard field goal by Will Ferrin that cut the Texas lead to 14-3 with 4:57 to play in the second quarter. A 30-yard Murphy-to-Mitchell touchdown pass expanded the Longhorns’ lead to 21-3 with 58 seconds remaining before intermission.
The Cougars got a 32-yard field goal by Ferrin at the 7:58 mark of the third quarter to cut their deficit to 21-6. On Texas’ ensuing possession, it moved to the BYU 2 but failed to score when Ja’Tavion Sanders was tackled short of the end zone on fourth down.
The Longhorns were denied again after moving to the BYU 2 early in the fourth quarter as Brooks was stopped short on a run by the middle of the Cougars’ defense.
An interception and return for 45 yards by the Longhorns’ Michael Taaffe set the table for Murphy’s second TD pass to Mitchell, this one from 13 yards away, with 9:07 to play. Jaydon Blue ran 34 yards for the Longhorns’ final points with 1:43 remaining.
–Field Level Media
