Blake Shapen hoping to turn frustrations into an elusive SEC win for Bulldogs

Last Saturday was a game that could have been as memorable as any for Blake Shapen based on all the right things, but it sits on his mind filled with frustrations.

As the senior quarterback commanded Mississippi State down the field for a chance to go win the game at Florida on a field goal, he would throw an interception at the UF 29 yard line with under 30 seconds left. Instead of leaving the Swamp in triumph, the Bulldogs left in devastating fashion.

It set up the 15^th-straight SEC loss for a Bulldog team that is trying to find a way to stop the bleeding. Shapen discussed that tough loss and trying to navigate an SEC win this week as the Bulldogs prepare for No. 21 Texas.

Question: What have you taken away from the film against Florida?

Shapen: “I look at the film, and the stats and yards might say one thing but I’ve got to improve in a lot of different areas. Probably one of my worst games in decision making and I’ve got to be better in that. There’s opportunities within the game to be able to push the ball down the field and I wish I would have a couple of those back – overthrew them a couple of times. Got to be able to hit on deep throws down the field when they give them to you. When I look at my game, I’ve got to improve there. When we have a freebee, we’ve got to hit it and that’s a big thing moving on to this week.”

Q: You were obviously frustrated after the game. What’s been your thoughts in dealing with that?

Shapen: “It’s frustrating. I’m a competitor. I want to win. Our team wants to win, our coaches want to win. That’s the goal every week to go 1-0 and ultimately it starts with me. For me, I’ve got to be better for our offense. I’ve got to be able to lead those guys better, we’ve got to be able to execute better and I’ve got to be able to execute better. It’s frustrating. You don’t want to lose that game, especially the way we lost it, but it is what it is. We’ve got to be able to move on to Texas this week. We’ve got a huge opponent coming to town so we’ve got to get our minds right for that game for sure and I know everyone in our locker room will.”

Q: You guys are two plays from 6-1. What does that mean to you?

Shapen: “I think it starts at the beginning of the game. We should have started the game 21-3. It was 7-3 and we didn’t capitalize in two of those drives where we were at the 50 going in and we’ve got to be able to capitalize on that. I know I overthrew Brenen (Thompson) on a deep shot down the field that should have been a touchdown, on the next drive after that I missed on another one and we also had a run that could have hit for a huge one.

“It’s easy to sit here and say it should have been 21-3, but it really should have been and I think a lot of guys by looking at the tape know that. I know that for a fact. I’ve got to be able to hit people down the field when I have the ability to. The guys know that we’ve got to capitalize on moments during a game.”

Q: Did you ever have a chance to cross paths with Arch Manning when you were playing in Louisiana?

Shapen: “No, we didn’t just because of the age difference. Obviously I know about the Mannings and Peyton Manning was my favorite quarterback growing up. None of Arch, never really met him. The first time I met him was at the Manning Passing Camp this year and he was a good dude to be around.”

Q: How do you translate your frustration to find a way to win?

Shapen: “When you’re talking about that in itself, it’s not overthinking it. There’s deep shots that we did hit on. You’re not going to hit every one of them, but when Brenen Thompson is running freely down the field you need to be able to hit him and I didn’t in that scenario. I’ve been throwing the football since I was five years old. That’s not something you can really teach, it’s just in the flow of the game. We’re taught to throw it long with air but when he’s running free, I’ve just got to put it on him. That’s what I took from it.”

Q: Was that your first career punt on Saturday?

Shapen: “Yeah it was my first one. Before the game, they said that we might have a situation where we might call it and they called it. I was like, gosh, here we go. I’m about to punt this thing. Thankfully, it had a good bounce to it because it wasn’t a very good punt at all. It went inside the 10 maybe 12? When they called it I was pretty surprised.”

Q: What have you learned about Texas’ defense?

Shapen: “Their front is the best part, the secondary is good too. They’ve got some big dudes up front. The Jack is a really good player, probably the best we’re going to face all year. I don’t think they’re going to be doing a ton that’s confusing on the backside, so for us it’s going to be about execution and knowing where they’re going to be pre-snap and trusting all of the things that we do throughout the week. Just trusting my eyes, being calm in the pocket and things like that. But yeah they have a good defense. The defensive line is a lot bigger and the secondary is pretty tout too.”

Q: How much more comforting is it having Albert Reese back at right tackle?

Shapen: “It’s always good. I was excited that we were able to get him back last week. Having a guy that’s experienced that has played in these games before is huge and critical to have on the offensive line, especially at his position. To be able to have him back was really big for us last week.”