Blake Shapen continues to fight for Mississippi State

Midway through the third quarter of Mississippi State’s matchup with Arkansas, it looked like the Bulldogs were destined to move into the Kamario Taylor era.

With Blake Shapen sidelined with concussion protocol, the freshman quarterback had led State to two touchdowns in three drives and was keeping the Bulldogs in the game on the road. When Jeff Lebby inserted the starter Shapen back in the game, he immediately watched as his pass went off of Anthony Evans’ hands and intercepted.

The groans grew into downright screams from State fans wanting a change at the QB position, but Shapen went back to work. Over the course of the final three possessions of the fourth quarter, Shapen led State to two touchdown drives and a field goal as the Bulldogs ended a 16-game losing streak in SEC play with a 38-35 loss to Arkansas.

Shapen cemented his standing as the starter for State the rest of the way and proved some naysayers wrong. He’ll try to do it again this week as the Bulldogs welcome in No. 5 Georgia on Saturday (11 a.m., ESPN).

This week, Shapen previewed that matchup with the other Bulldogs, broke down his team’s win over the Razorbacks, talked Taylor’s progression and more.

Question: What do you see about Georgia’s defense you’re trying to attack this week?

Shapen: “Very talented defense. As y’all know – good team, very well-coached, disciplined all of those things. They’re going to be in the right place at the right time. I think the strength of their defense is the defensive line. Secondary is good also, but I think the strength is definitely defensive line. We have a good test for sure.”

Q: What was going through your mind when you came out of the game at Arkansas and what were the conversations like with the coaches on the sidelines trying to get back in the game?

Shapen: “Obviously, I had to go through protocol and stuff like that. So trying to figure all of that out in the tent and pass those tests to get out there and start warming up and get ready to go back in the game. There wasn’t much conversation with him because he’s the head coach trying to be involved when the defense was on the field. DIdn’t have much conversation with him, but when I was available, he just said get warmed up and ready to go. That’s all it was.”

Q: How did you reset and finish the way you did the last three possessions after the interception?

Shapen:  “That was tough. Your first play back in the game and it’s a pick. You’ve got to be able to reset, especially in a game like that. To be able to lead the guys and come back with an attitude that you’re not going to go out there with a fear of making any more mistakes. You’ve got to push the ball down the field when you can and be able to do things and make hard throws to get us back in the game. I knew that you had to wipe it clean and be able to go out there and make big plays for us to go win.”

Q: You guys have had a lot of experience with last minute drives. What’s your comfort level there?

Shapen: “We’ve found ourselves a lot of the time in a really tight game at the end of the game. The more experience you have doing it, the more times you’re in it, the better you’re getting at it. I think you can tell by the way we were able to finish the game off. I think it comes from doing it with a certain group that’s in the game that you keep going through the same thing and find yourself in the same situation over and over again. That’s what you saw in that game that we were able to close it out the right game and other games we didn’t. We showed improvement in that area.”

Q: What was going through your mind in that last touchdown?

Shapen: “I was super excited. The play call was perfect. We sent Ant in motion and got man-to-man. It was something that you draw that play up for, kind of an option deal where you can break in and break out. He broke out because it was soft (coverage). I knew I had what I wanted with it and right when I sent him across, I knew. Ant made a heck of a play getting the first down. I think the ball was caught a half inch before the sticks and he did a good job making that guy miss and getting in the end zone. He’s a tough, gritty player and you can tell when the game is on the line he’s willing to go make the play to go win it.”

Q: What was the moment where you felt like you knew this was going to be different?

Shapen: “I don’t know if there was an exact moment when I knew we would win it. For me, when the pick happened it was like we have to go win this game. I wanted it for myself and I wanted it for my team just because we had been in that situation before and we weren’t able to close it out. We all knew that it was that time and we knew that it was probably a good chance of being in that situation again. When that happened, it created a spark not just for me but for the receivers to go do their job too.”

Q: What would it mean for you guys to get to a bowl game?

Shapen: “That’s the goal for sure. We want to reach a bowl game as quick as possible. That’s definitely the goal. The faster you do that, the better bowl game you’re going to get. The goal this week is to get to 1-0. It doesn’t change our mindset on anything, but we definitely want to get to a bowl game as fast as possible.”

Q: What did you see from Kamario Taylor that he did really well and some things he needs to do better?

Shapen: “It’s funny because he’s getting coached on the one he ran in and I’m like dude that’s a heck of a play. (Lebby) is going to sit back here and critique you, but for you to come in as a freshman and do the things that he did, it’s pretty special. It says a lot about who he is, his character, the work that he’s put in and all of those things. I’m super excited that he got the opportunity to go do that, but he’s a talented player. It was fun being able to watch the film and for him to get to feel what it’s like to come in after a game and get coached. Coach Lebby is going to coach us no matter what.”