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Florida QB Murphy transferring

 
Florida quarterback Tyler Murphy, who played nine games this season, graduated and can play elsewhere immediately.
Florida quarterback Tyler Murphy, who played nine games this season, graduated and can play elsewhere immediately.
Published Dec. 16, 2013

GAINESVILLE — Quarterback Tyler Murphy has decided to transfer, Florida athletic officials said Sunday, the seventh offensive player over the past week to declare his intention to transfer from the Gators.

Murphy began the season as the second-team quarterback and took over the starting job in the Sept. 21 game against Tennessee when starter Jeff Driskel went down with a season-ending injury.

Coach Will Muschamp said at the end of the season that the position would be an open competition in the spring involving Driskel, Murphy and Skyler Mornhinweg. Driskel will be a senior next season; Mornhinweg a redshirt sophomore

Murphy played nine games, passing for 1,216 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. He missed the final three games of the season with a shoulder injury.

Murphy joins freshman Max Staver as quarterbacks who have left the program after Muschamp fired offensive coordinator Brent Pease and offensive line coach Tim Davis after the 4-8 season.

Murphy, who will be a redshirt senior, graduated Saturday and is eligible to play at a new school without sitting out a season.

Brown: It was time

AUSTIN, Texas — For a decade, Mack Brown and Texas won more games than almost any other program in the country.

The inability to meet those lofty expectations the past four years pushed Brown to announce his resignation Saturday after 16 years, ending an era that included a national championship in the 2005 season.

"The standard is really high here," Brown said Sunday at a campus news conference. "We set a standard at this place. You'd better win all of them. I understand that. … The standard is really high here, and I'm proud of being part of setting that standard."

From 2000-09, Brown's teams averaged more than 10 wins a season, captured two Big 12 titles, won a national title and played for another. But the program dipped to 5-7 in 2010, Brown's only losing season, and the Longhorns have at least four losses each of the past four years.

Brown said he knew that wasn't good enough. His final game is Dec. 30, in the Alamo Bowl against Oregon.

Brown was under contract until 2020 at more than $5 million salary per year. He will stay on as a special consultant to school president Bill Powers, a role that his current contract stipulates would pay up to $500,000.

Army: Coach Rich Ellerson was fired after five years, one winning season and no victories against Navy. Ellerson, 60, was 20-41 and couldn't snap the team's losing streak against its most important rival. On Saturday, the Midshipmen won their 12th straight in the series, the longest streak by either side.

North Dakota State: The Division I-AA power named Chris Klieman as coach to succeed Craig Bohl, who will leave for Wyoming after the playoffs. Klieman, 47, is in his third season as an assistant with the Bison, the past two as defensive coordinator. The Bison host New Hampshire on Friday in a playoff semifinal.

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Information from Times wires was used in this report.