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And to think that Gary Pinkel and Missouri considered giving the starting kick return job to safety Ian Simon.
Marcus Murphy has but one peer as a kick returner in the history of Tigers football. That man, Jeremy Maclin, is gearing up to become a crucial cog in Chip Kelly’s dynamite offense with the Philadelphia Eagles this season after tearing his ACL last preseason.
Thanks to Murphy’s 100-yard kickoff return against South Dakota State, the 5-foot-9 all-purpose threat is tied with Maclin with five career kicks returned for touchdowns
#Mizzou/Toledo notes: http://t.co/6jJ31SyxS1. These 2 tied for most combined kicks returned for TD in school history. pic.twitter.com/NsSLrS8Lbs
— Patrick Crawford (@p_crawf) September 1, 2014
Maclin has returned 13 punts and eight kickoffs since entering the NFL in 2009, but he’s made his bones as a receiver, catching between 56 and 70 passes every season.
Both players got to five touchdowns by returning two kicks and three punts.
Maclin holds Missouri’s career record for kickoff return yards at 2,049.
Murphy returned all three punts and one of the kickoffs in 2012, including against UCF, next week’s opponent.
Murphy, a redshirt senior, broke a long punt against South Dakota State as well, but a blocking penalty negated the gain. He’ll have at least 11 more games to try to break the record, assuming he stays healthy.
Missouri has made an active effort to develop Murphy as a receiver this season, and though he’s listed as the co-starter at running back, he’s expected to play a significant number of snaps as a pass-catcher. Murphy gained 204 all-purpose yards against the Jackrabbits, two shy of his career high against Southeast Louisiana. He returned two punts for touchdowns in that game.
Murphy actually set a school record of 180 punt return yards against Southeast Louisiana with Maclin in attendance. He told the Columbia Tribune that he studied film of Maclin in the offseason.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
