Published Aug 19, 2024
Duke names Maalik Murphy starting QB
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Conor O'Neill  •  DevilsIllustrated
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Blue Devils going with Texas transfer for next week’s season opener

One night to sleep on it was all Manny Diaz needed.

Duke has named Maalik Murphy as its starting quarterback, first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN and since officially announced by the program's social media.

"First and foremost, all of our quarterbacks have been impressive and made really good strides since we opened practice last month," Diaz said via news release. "Maalik has earned the opportunity to be our starting quarterback with his preparation, work ethic and productivity. I'm really excited for him because of his investment into this team and this program.

"And we're really fortunate to have two young men in the room who have won games here at Duke. Both Henry (Belin IV) and Grayson (Loftis) will continue to prepare like starters and push Maalik, and we've got confidence in their abilities to lead our offense."

The 6-5, 230-pounder transferred to Duke after spending his first two seasons at Texas. Murphy started two games for the College Football Playoff-bound Longhorns last season, beating both BYU and Kansas State.

Murphy has been competing for the starting role against Loftis, who started Duke’s last five games as a freshman last season. That includes regular-season wins over Wake Forest and Pittsburgh, plus the Birmingham Bowl win over Troy.

The news comes a day after Diaz navigated a question on a Zoom press conference about the quarterback competition, which has been ongoing since the spring.

“With quarterback in particular … if we felt like we had the guy, we would probably go with that,” Diaz said on Sunday afternoon.

The 30 hours or so since that comment landed Duke with a starting quarterback.

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