A none-too-surprising name officially sits atop Oklahoma’s depth chart as QB1.
The Sooners posted a tweet to its official Twitter account Wednesday afternoon confirming that, as expected, Kyler Murray has been named as OU’s starting quarterback. Murray had been engaged in a competition with Austin Kendall throughout the offseason to replace Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield as the starter.
Kendall will serve as Murray’s primary backup.
“Kyler did a really nice job in camp,” head coach Lincoln Riley said in a statement. “It was really a great competition between Austin and him, one that we carried on longer than maybe even we expected because of how well both guys played. There weren’t a lot of differentiating factors in the end because both did play so well and so efficiently, but just felt like from an overall perspective that Kyler was just a little bit ahead.
“We feel like we’ve got a great quarterback tandem there and we’re really proud of the way that Austin has improved through the redshirt year last year and during camp. We’re excited for Kyler and his opportunity and the team looks forward to getting ready for FAU.”
A four-star member of Texas A&M’s 2015 recruiting class, Murray was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the country on 247Sports.com‘s composite board. In December of 2015, Murray opted to transfer from the Aggies to the Sooners.
After sitting out the 2016 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules, Murray served as the primary backup to the Heisman Trophy-winning Mayfield. In mostly mop-up duty — he did start one game because of Mayfield’s one-series suspension — Murray completed 18-of-21 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns this past season for the Sooners. He added 142 yards on the ground for good measure.
In June, Murray was taken ninth overall by the Oakland Athletics in the Major League Baseball amateur draft. Shortly thereafter, Murray signed a contract with the A’s that not only included a $5 million bonus but also contains a provision that allows him to play college football in 2018 before shifting his focus to baseball in 2019. Murray’s agent confirmed earlier this month that this will be his client’s last season in college football.