Kyler Murray officially named Oklahoma starting quarterback

It was inevitable, but Kyler Murray has officially been named Oklahoma’s starting quarterback for the Sept.1 season opener against FAU.

Replacing a Heisman Trophy winner is not easy, but the Oklahoma Sooners are here this year with quarterback Baker Mayfield gone. Kyler Murray’s long-term future is in baseball, as the ninth overall pick in this year’s MLB draft by the Oakland A’s.

But it’s now official Murray will be the Sooners’ starting quarterback on Sept. 1 at home against Florida Atlantic.

Murray was Mayfield’s backup last year and he was competing with Austin Kendall for the right to replace the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Sooners’ head coach Lincoln Riley said he informed the two quarterbacks of the decision on Wednesday morning, before the school announced it . Riley also offered a broader statement on the competition for the starting job, with compliments for Murray and Kendall.

"Kyler did a really nice job in camp,” said Riley, who directed OU to a 12-2 record last year in his debut season as head coach.“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."

The FAU Owls won their final 10 games last year, to finish 11-3 in Lane Kiffin’s first season as head coach. So they are not a Conference USA pushover, or an automatic mark in the win column for Oklahoma.

It seems Murray was very specifically named the starter for the season opener, with no apparent promise after that.

So a lackluster showing against FAU, and an Owls’ defense that returns 10 starters from a unit that was top-75 in the country in scoring defense, total defense, against the run and against the pass last year, could open the door to an in-game change and a quarterback controversy heading into Week 2 against UCLA and Chip Kelly.