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CLEMSON -- When stud California quarterback Maalik Murphy announced his commitment to Texas, the news was greeted with celebration in Austin.

Steve Sarkisian made his first big splash in his new digs, and there's no better way to make a splash than by securing a high-profile quarterback.

Who knows whether Murphy will ultimately usher the Longhorns back to the exalted place they've been absent from for a decade.

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But we should all know by now -- Clemson folks in particular -- how much a national title hinges on the possession of a generational quarterback.

If recruiting in general is a season all by itself, then the recruiting of the top quarterbacks should be considered a season within that season.

The commitments of the elite 2022 quarterbacks have already taken center stage thus far in the 2021 NSD aftermath.

Before Murphy announced his intent to join Sarkisian, Gunner Stockton pledged for Georgia, Quinn Ewers to Ohio State, Conner Weigman to Texas A&M, and Walker Howard to LSU.