Chants of “Ty-ler Mur-phy! Ty-ler Mur-phy! Ty-ler Mur-phy!” rippled through the student section as quarterback Tyler Murphy had the Gators in the victory formation for a third and 14 at their own 20-yard line.
Murphy Fever infected the alumni section as the entire Swamp echoed a name nobody expected to hear when Tennessee and Florida kicked off just hours earlier.
The kid deserved it.
After doing the unthinkable and waiting his turn, he finally got his shot — albeit at the expense of quarterback Jeff Driskel’s unfortunate injury.
Football can be a cruel game and it reared its ugly head Saturday.
Yet, out of the ashes rose an unknown, an underdog, an overlooked quarterback athletes everywhere could get behind. Florida fans loved Murphy on Saturday because he won. His players love him because his hard work got rewarded.
I loved him — because I was also Tyler Murphy.
I’m not proud of a .214 batting average my senior year of high school. But I also played more because of a teammate and good friend’s injury.
I had my fair share of Murphy moments.
Perhaps Murphy won’t be the savior of Florida’s “flawed” offense, but there’s no harm in getting behind him.
Fans never rallied behind Driskel because he arrived as the next savior. He was the nation’s top-ranked quarterback and Urban Meyer’s handpicked successor to the Tebow throne (sorry, John Brantley).
He was the untouchable player with high expectations that came with the lofty territory.
It has not gone as planned. Driskel will be back next season and very well could be the starting quarterback again. For the time being, Florida’s own David is about to face a string of Goliaths that include LSU, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida State.
The redshirt junior looked like a poised veteran facing a Southeastern Conference defense. He looked more comfortable than an experienced Driskel hobbled by a sprained knee.
Murphy’s bursts of speed, first downs and Chris Leak-esque spirals invigorated the Florida fan base. His teammates and coaches were happy to see him get the call.
By all accounts, Murphy has been the consummate professional in the Orange and Blue. He asked Will Muschamp at one point to work with the scout team to better prepare the Gators and improve as a player.
Take the thoughts of senior defensive back Jaylen Watkins, who lived with Murphy on campus last year. From what it sounded like, Murphy spent every waking hour on football. It is his life.
Watching him against the Volunteers, I couldn’t help but think back to my Wally Pipp moment. Here one second and gone the next.
Brent Pease brought up a great point Tuesday. It’s easy to come into a game as an unknown, but there’s nothing unknown about a quarterback who was trending nationally on Twitter during his debut.
“People will be able to game plan for him now that they see the tendencies that he has or what they see that he can hurt defenses with,” Pease said.
Now, Murphy is everybody’s favorite quarterback. He’s still the guy who came off the bench and carried his team to victory. He’s still the guy who replaced the President people voted out of office, the guy who replaced the coach who didn’t fulfill expectations, the guy who replaced the quarterback people wanted more from.
It’s about to get real for Murphy.
For Davids everywhere, here’s hoping the honeymoon turns into a happy marriage.
Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus.
Tyler Murphy throws a pass during Florida’s 31-17 victory against Tennessee on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
