Auburn · L 8-43
No tackles.
Murphy has tackles in 7 of Southern Miss’s 8 games: none against Auburn.
Malakai Murphy
Played for two head coaches in two seasons at Southern Miss. On tape: 6 tackles against Louisiana, Week 8, 2026.
21 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
SuperTalk Mississippi Media Oct 23His game this year: coverage — 2 passes defended in the 7 games with play by play.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Southern Miss | 21 | 13 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 26 | 15 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 tackle.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 49-3vs Alcorn State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 20-48vs UConn | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 21-24@ Tulane | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 34-55@ Troy | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 13-23vs Arkansas State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 35-31vs Louisiana | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 35-21@ UL Monroe | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 13 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
Week 8 · 2026
W 35-31
vs Louisiana
6 tackles · 1 pass breakup · 3 solo tackles
Edged out Louisiana at home in a shootout.
Ratings of the games shown run from -24 to +1 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
10%2 pass breakupsTackle volume
21tackles this season21 tackles · 2 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Blake Anderson
Pass share
54.1%
369 pass / 313 run
Plays / game
85.2
8 games
Team sack rate
4.4%
316 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Unranked recruit. Now #311 at the position.
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Deion Sanders, Charles Huff and Blake Anderson.
