The night before the 2018 Big 12 Championship Game between Oklahoma and Texas, Kyler Murray prepared to deliver a speech his former teammates still haven’t forgotten.
Murray, OU’s quarterback in 2018, wasn’t – and still isn’t – much of a talker. So when he got up to speak that night, everyone in the room knew it was a unique moment.
“I had chills,” said Marquise Brown, who played receiver at OU from 2017-18. “We all knew how much that game meant to him. He really wanted that game. He let everyone know his mindset. You could hear it in his voice. And there were a lot of guys in that room that hadn’t really ever heard him talk like that. It was the most vocal he had ever been.”
Having lost to Texas earlier that season, avenging that loss had been Murray’s lone focus the rest of the season. He was determined to get to the Big 12 title game, hoping to get a second chance at the Longhorns. And he did so, not allowing OU to lose another game and putting them one win away from the College Football Playoff, becoming a Heisman candidate in the process.
That determination is what Murray spoke about that night, telling his teammates he had dreamt about playing in games like these. That it was going to take everyone to win and that he, personally, wouldn’t let them lose again.
“I’m going to dominate,” Murray told the team. “I’ve got us and you’ve got me. Lock in.”
Oklahoma beat Texas 39-27 that day behind Murray’s three touchdown passes.
A week later, he became Oklahoma’s seventh Heisman Trophy winner.
“It was something special,” said Lee Morris, who played receiver at OU from 2016-19. “We were already jacked, but for him to speak up and talk in front of the entire team about what this game meant to him and for us and our legacy – I knew he wasn’t going to let us lose that day.”
That’s just one of many fond stories from Murray’s special 2018 season, which will be recognized this weekend at OU’s 2023 spring game.
Murray will be immortalized Saturday in Norman, with his statue being unveiled at 11:30 a.m. in Heisman Park. Many of his former teammates are expected to be in town for the event, just one year after they celebrated 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield at the 2022 spring game.
“I want him to feel like this is his weekend,” said Mayfield, who played quarterback at Oklahoma from 2015-17. “I don’t want to pester him too much. We talked about how special it is. He saw that last year and I told him, ‘It’s your time now' -- just as I told him when I left in 2017.”
Murray’s Heisman season was unexpected, though.
While most had high expectations for Murray, who transferred to Oklahoma from Texas A&M in 2016, few outside of the program thought he could live up to Mayfield. Not to mention many believed he would eventually choose baseball over football, after being drafted ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft.
But when Murray originally transferred, it was with the thought that Mayfield’s last year would be 2016. But Mayfield was granted another year of eligibility and returned for a third season, forcing Murray to wait another year.
“We joked about me getting my eligibility back. It wasn’t what he or I expected,” Mayfield said. “But you know what, it wound up working out the best for the both of us. Competition breeds excellence and we’re two highly, highly competitive guys. We pushed each other to be the very best. He pushed the whole team. I was getting all the reps on the offensive side and then he would come in and push the defense, and he absolutely torched them. He physically could do things that I flat out can’t do and will never be able to do.
“It made everybody else better around us. And I think just to see how we interacted together was the most vital part of it. Our relationship never faulted. It was a mutual respect.”
Behind the scenes, Murray excelled. In 2016, he was often the scout team quarterback. And in 2017, he was Mayfield’s backup, experiencing a Heisman season from the sideline while also becoming close friends with Mayfield.
“There were plenty of times that he absolutely destroyed the defense in practice,” Morris said. “There were times he ran with the ones, because obviously Baker knew what he was doing, and we just wanted to see what Kyler could do. Our defense had to deal with that every day.”
Murray even gave a glimpse of the future in 2017, when he started for a single series in place of a suspended Mayfield against West Virginia, in which he ripped off a 66-yard run on the first play of the game.
“Me and Lincoln (Riley) looked at each other and said, ‘Well, I think he’s ready,’” Mayfield said. “He’s so, so talented. And we would always have competitions in practice – accuracy stuff and things like that, he won a lot of those. It was always back and forth. He made it so much more fun for me.”
When Murray finally did get his chance in 2018, he didn’t disappoint.
In the season opener against Florida Atlantic, he had one of his best highlights – a 10-yard scramble. It wasn’t much on the stat sheet, but it was one of the more incredible 10-yard runs in college football, as Murray danced in the backfield for an eternity before taking off for a first down. He also threw two touchdowns, both 65 yards long – one to Morris and one to Brown.
“It was only like 10 yards, but just the scramble,” said Morris, who also played with Murray at Allen High School. “Obviously, I had seen that multiple times in high school, but just for him to do it at the college level was another level and to do it with such ease – it was incredible.”
But Murray’s Heisman campaign didn’t really start until the Red River Rivalry. Murray had maybe his best performance of the season at the Cotton Bowl, throwing for 304 yards and four touchdowns, while also rushing for 92 yards and a touchdown.
Oklahoma didn’t win, but Murray firmly put himself in the Heisman Trophy race, rallying OU back from down 45-24 with under nine minutes to play. The comeback was sparked by a 67-yard touchdown run that is still considered arguably Murray’s greatest play as a Sooner.
“That long run against Texas was – I’m not sure how to describe it,” said Grant Calcaterra, who played tight end at Oklahoma from 2017-19. “He was such a gamer. I remember thinking we always had a chance with Kyler, no matter the score.”
That loss stuck with Murray for the rest of the season. He had never lost as a starter in his career, going 42-0 at Allen High School where he’s considered one of the greatest Texas high school football players in recent history.
Murray went on a tear following that game. Despite one of the worst defenses in college football, Murray willed Oklahoma to six straight wins. He overcame two early interceptions and a 14-0 deficit in Lubbock. He survived a Bedlam shootout. He bailed the defense out against Kansas. And he was a human highlight reel in a 59-56 win in Morgantown.
There were several “Heisman moments” in each of those games, including a 75-yard touchdown run that was never supposed to happen.
“That was my favorite play,” Brown said. “Coach called a play during a timeout and it was supposed to be a play to me, but Kyler changed it in the huddle. He told me not to run my route. He said, ‘I’ve been seeing the lane open, I think I can take it.’ He takes the ball 75 yards against Kansas and I’m like, well, alright then. That works.”
Murray’s heroics led the Sooners to the Big 12 title game against Texas, where Oklahoma once again had to come from behind, trailing 14-3 in the second quarter. He connected with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and tight end Grant Calcaterra before halftime to give OU the lead.
But Murray’s best play that day, and maybe in his collegiate career, came in the fourth quarter with 2:05 remaining and OU clinging to a five-point lead and facing a third and 10 at the Texas 18-yard-line. The play call was “66” with Calcaterra running an inside fade and Lamb running a hitch. Murray recognized Texas was in man coverage and lobbed the ball to the end zone where Calcaterra made a one-handed grab.
It was an 18-yard touchdown pass that most will never forget, sealing the Big 12 title, putting Oklahoma in the playoff and making Murray the Heisman favorite over Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa.
“We knew what we were about to do and I knew he was going to put where only I could make a play,” Calcaterra said of the touchdown play. “Thing about him is he’s always locked in. It’s always business. To us, it was just another play and it was almost routine.”
Murray’s magical season came to an end a month later, falling 45-34 to Tagovailoa and the Crimson Tide in the Orange Bowl. Murray kept the Sooners in the game, totaling 308 yards passing and two touchdowns with 109 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He and Brown, now teammates with the Arizona Cardinals, still talk about that game, claiming it would have gone differently had Brown – who was battling a Lisfranc injury – been healthy.
Regardless, Murray’s 2018 season is considered one of the best in college football. He totaled 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns through the air and 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Murray became the first quarterback in school history to pass for over 4,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards in the same season. And Oklahoma joined USC (2004-05), Army (1945-46) and Yale (1936-37) as one of only four schools to have back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners with Murray and Mayfield. Both went No. 1 overall in their respective NFL Drafts in 2018 and 2019.
“We kept in touch throughout the season,” Mayfield said. “I remember watching the ceremony from a restaurant in Cleveland with my family. I watched it on my phone and I realized how excited he was. He was going through the dream as well. I was so happy for him. It felt like I was there.”
Murray’s celebration this weekend will likely be different than Mayfield’s last year. The two are close friends and fierce competitors, but they couldn’t be more opposite off the field. Mayfield is known for his outgoing and charismatic personality, while Murray is reserved and lets his play do the talking.
So don’t expect a lengthy thank-you speech at halftime of Saturday’s game.
“It was totally different, the team dynamic, switching from Baker to Kyler,” Brown said. “Baker, you know, he lit a fire in everyone. Kyler kind of lights a fire in you with the way he plays. He’s not really a vocal leader. But I spent the majority of my time with him, so knowing him as a person – the guy’s goofy, he’s funny, but he also hates losing. He’s a sore loser. He wants to be a winner. He wants to be the best at everything – everything.”
But reminiscing on Murray’s time at OU will be special nonetheless. Because while he may not have been the character Mayfield was off the field, Murray was every bit as stunning on the field.
He was a 5-foot-10 electric factory in Norman, and now he’ll be remembered in bronze on Jenkins Avenue forever.
“It’s his weekend. It’s going to be all about him and I think it’s going to be awesome,” Mayfield said. “Two years in a row and we’re putting two statues up – it’s incredible and obviously, I’m so proud of him and so happy we’re getting to recognize him this weekend.”
