{"id":12798,"date":"2023-08-06T03:57:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T08:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=12798"},"modified":"2023-08-06T03:57:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T08:57:34","slug":"byron-murphy-says-only-texas-can-stop-itself-this-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/byron-murphy-says-only-texas-can-stop-itself-this-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Murphy says only Texas can stop itself this season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas<\/a><\/strong> defensive lineman Byron Murphy<\/a><\/strong> believes the Longhorns have what it takes to make 2023 a special season. With Texas picked to win the Big 12 for the first time since 2011, it seems the rest of the country agrees. <\/p>\n

With fall camp kicking off this past week, Murphy spoke in front of media Friday and revealed his faith in the team to live up to that hype, echoing what coach Steve Sarkisian<\/a><\/strong> has preached all offseason. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s (only) us that\u2019s gonna stop ourselves,\u201d he said<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ve got everything we need. We\u2019ve got all the pieces. Offense and on the defensive side of the ball. So it\u2019s really on us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For years, fans have heard the statement that Texas is \u201cback,\u201d but the Longhorns have so far yet to deliver. Since 2010, they\u2019ve managed just one 10-win season and have failed to win a conference championship. <\/p>\n

Still, the talent on this year\u2019s roster has many believing a breakthrough is possible in coach Steve Sarkisian\u2019s third season. Texas finished just 8-5 this past season but had a lead going into the fourth quarter in three out of those five losses. The Longhorns return 15 starters, including quarterback\u00a0Quinn Ewers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for his second season as well as his top two receivers Xavier Worthy<\/a><\/strong> and Jordan Whittington<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Defensively, Texas brings back Murphy, linebacker Jaylan Ford<\/a><\/strong>, tackle T\u2019Vondre Sweat<\/a><\/strong> and defensive end Barryn Sorrell<\/a><\/strong> from a team that led the country in quarterback hurries a year ago. Murphy should be a leader among that group after finishing with 26 tackles (three for loss) and a sack in 2022. <\/p>\n

All that talent certainly looks good on paper going into the season. But as we\u2019ve seen in past years, the Longhorns will need to stay out of their own way if they ultimately hope to live up to the preseason expectations. <\/p>\n

Texas kicks off the season on Sept. 2 against Rice before taking on Alabama in Week 2 in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

Steve Sarkisian: Texas is \u2018on a mission\u2019 in 2023<\/h2>\n

Murphy isn\u2019t the only one who thinks Texas can live up to the expectations. Sarkisian also spoke on the matter at Big 12 Media Days, saying he\u2019s seen a new mindset out of his players this offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this team is on a mission,\u201d Sarkisian said. \u201cThey\u2019ve taken this mindset of being on a mission. They\u2019ve kind of adopted the John Wick mentality. I know\u00a0Quinn (Ewers)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has touched on and\u00a0Jordan (Whittington)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has touched on that they\u2019ve really focused. And I think that\u2019s probably the thing. They want to go do this, they want to be focused on the task at hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, the players have heard the jeers of opposing teams throughout their struggles over the recent years. Although there might still be many doubters out there, the Longhorns have opted to use that to fuel themselves heading into 2023. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve assumed this mentality of \u2018Embrace the hate,\u2019\u201d Sarkisian\u00a0said<\/a>. \u201cWe get it, we\u2019re the University of Texas. We get it, this is our last year in the Big 12. We can sit there and be a punching bag or we can go attack the people that we are going to play. I\u2019ve think they\u2019ve assumed that responsibility to say \u2018we\u2019re going to go after everybody else too.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s the right mentality to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Byron Murphy says only Texas can stop itself this season<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Texas defensive lineman Byron Murphy believes the Longhorns have what it takes to make 2023…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}