Meet the president and vice president of The Tyler Murphy Fan Club. (AP photo)
Tyler Murphy has picked up all kinds of new fans since taking over at quarterback for the Gators. Add South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and Alabama’s Nick Saban to the list.
Both of those coaches caught a glimpse of Murphy while preparing for their games this week. The Gamecocks visit Arkansas, while Alabama is at Kentucky. Those are the last two games Murphy faced, so he showed up during film breakdowns.
“He’s a dang good player,” Spurrier said. “His throwing motion is beautiful. He throws a nice, catchable ball. He can move around in the pocket. You’d never think the young man hadn’t played but 2-3 games. He must’ve looked good in practice down there, but he finally got his chance. That’s the way it works out: you get your chance and make the most of it. He’s a very good player.
“He throws the ball beautifully. Fundamentally sound. All their receivers are catching everything. He throws a very catchable ball. He’s a very good quarterback.”
High praise from a man who won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback and coached stars like Danny Wuerffel at UF.
Here’s what Saban thought:
“He’s really athletic and he’s certainly doing a pretty good job as a passer. I think he has the potential to be a really good player. Guys like him are hard to defend because he can make plays with his feet. He looks like he’s developing into a good passer.”
Murphy, a red-shirt junior, will make his third career start Saturday when No. 17 Florida visits No. 10 LSU (3:30 p.m., CBS).
In his first three games since taking over for injured starter Jeff Driskel, Murphy completed 72.2 percent of his passes for 530 yards and has five touchdown passes against one interception. He also has rushed for two touchdowns.
Prior to Driskel’s injury Sept. 21 against Tennessee, Murphy had never played meaningful snaps in college.
