Dave Aranda updates Blake Shapen's status for West Virginia game

The Baylor Bears and head coach Dave Aranda are looking to end their 2023 campaign on a high note with a win over West Virginia at home on Saturday. Unfortunately, if Baylor are to pick up a win in the final game of the season, it will come without the services of starting quarterback Blake Shapen.

During Aranda’s weekly radio show, the Bears headman revealed that Shapen will sit out the final game of the season. However, who will take his place and lead the Baylor offense on Saturday still remains a mystery. Aranda noted that sophomore Sawyer Robertson and junior R.J. Martinez have been competing to start against West Virginia, taking first-team reps in practice.

Shapen was knocked out of Baylor’s loss to rival TCU in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed head injury. Initially, Aranda did express doubt about his starting quarterback being able to play in the Bears’ season finale. And now those doubts have been confirmed. Before getting knocked out of the Baylor game, shaping had completed 20 of his 30 pass attempts for 197 yards and one touchdown. He was also sacked once in the game.

This is not the first time Shapen has missed action this season. In September, he missed three games as he dealt with an MCL sprain.

Baylor’s struggles and Aranda’s two options

Baylor, two years from winning the Big 12 title, has fallen hard on their face this season, with play reminiscent of the years when the Bears struggled to be competitive in the conference. Currently, they sit at 3-8 in the Big 12 and are 2-6 in the conference.

Shapen did his best, given the circumstances around him, to try and keep Baylor competitive this season. This year, he has completed 61.7 percent of his past attempts for 2188 yards, 13 touchdowns, and three interceptions. Sadly, the season ends with him being one of the highest-sacked quarterbacks in the conference, getting taken down behind the line of scrimmage 25 times.

Robertson and Martinez have seen action this season, with Roberson seeing the majority of the action. However, the sophomore from Lubbock, TX, has had his fair share of struggles on the field. Robertson has completed just 49 of his 98 pass attempts, good for a 50 percent completion percentage, with one passing touchdown and four interceptions.

Martinez has played in just two games this season, with the majority of his action coming against the top-ranked team in the Big 12 this season, the Texas Longhorns. In that game, he completed nine of his 18 pass attempts for 102 yards. Overall, on the year, Martinez has gone 12-23 for a 52.2 completion percentage and 110 yards through the air.