Former Duke football quarterback Maalik Murphy jumped ship from the program after serving as the team's starter for the 2024 season. After his lone season in Durham, the former Texas Longhorn entered the transfer portal and ultimately committed to Oregon State. It's now been reported that Murphy has won the starting job for the Beavers in 2025.
NEW: Former Texas and Duke QB Maalik Murphy is expected to be named Oregon State’s week 1 starter, @PeteNakos_ reports🦫
— Transfer Portal (@TransferPortal_) August 20, 2025
Read: https://t.co/HHMsTkPWZ9 pic.twitter.com/rQ315BLj7a
Coming out of high school, Murphy was viewed as one of the top signal callers in the class of 2022. Ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 12 QB in the class per the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Murphy ended up committing to Texas.
After redshirting his freshman season, Murphy only saw action in six games in 2023 while sitting behind Quinn Ewers. He finished his redshirt freshman season completing 40 of his 71 (56.3%) passing attempts for 477 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.
After the 2023 season and Ewers' return to Austin, Murphy elected to enter the transfer portal and ultimately landed with Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils.
As such a highly-touted recruit, there were now elevated expectations for Duke as a whole with the perceived major QB upgrade.
Throughout the season, the California native had his moments of flair along with inconsistencies. He'd have periods of rhythm and great throws, but more than a few moments of inaccuracy and indecisive play, sparking frustration from the fan base.
Murphy finished the 2024 campaign completing 60.3% of his passes for 2,933 yards in the air to go along with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He helped lead the Blue Devils to a 9-4 record, the fourth season of nine or more wins in program history, and a berth to the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Murphy also set the Duke football single-season passing touchdowns record that was previously set by Anthony Dilweg in 1988.
However, Murphy then hit the portal once again before the team's bowl game, leaving many Duke fans in disbelief.
Now, he will start for the Beavers in hopes of leading OSU to a winning season, coming off a 5-7 record in 2024.
As for the Blue Devils, Diaz landed one of the top QB names in the portal in Darian Mensah after Murphy's departure, and the former Tulane QB1 is viewed as one of the top quarterbacks in the entire nation.