Quarterback Blake Shapen, State offense looking for quicker starts

Mississippi State opens a ‘new season’ of sorts this Saturday when the Bulldogs (1-2) host Florida for their SEC opener at Davis Wade Stadium. After last weekend’s 41-17 setback against Toledo, Mississippi State is looking for any signs of positive movement this weekend.

Following Tuesday’s practice session, senior quarterback Blake Shapen met with the media to discuss the SEC opener along with other topics. In the first three games, Shapen has completed 61 of 87 passes for 834 yards with seven touchdown passes and one interception:

Q: After reviewing the Toledo tape, what were your impressions?
Shapen: I think for us we’ve got a lot of things we need to clean up. We need to be a lot more disciplined in how we line up and how we get the signals and how we execute the plays. You look all over the board the way we started the game, we weren’t executing at a high level, shooting ourselves in the foot like I said after the game. Mainly, cleaning those things up.

Q: How correctable is getting off to a fast start and making sure you are successful there?
Shapen: I think for us, that’s the biggest thing. Just getting a first down and that’s our biggest deal. If we can get a first down we’re rolling and there’s stats to prove that. For us, that’s been the emphasis all week, just being able to get the 1st first down and let’s go from there and just execute when we get on the field. That should be the emphasis when we get on the field, let’s get a first down.

Q: Are there a certain number of plays that Coach (Jeff) Lebby likes to have?
Shapen: We go into every game with scripted plays we want to start the game with. We will have our second drive different sometimes. But yeah, we will always have plays that we want to start with.

Q: With getting off to a fast start, do you have to be careful of not pushing the issue?
Shapen: No doubt. I think we all know that if we’re pressing it’s just not gonna work. Guys understand that pressing isn’t the answer. I think we’ve got a bunch of mature guys on the offense that are able to look at it as, hey, we need to get a first down. That’s the way they’re going to look at it and what to we need to do to get it.

Q: The offense targeted the tight ends more last week. Was that about what was working better or what Toledo was giving the offense?
Shapen: I think any given game those guys can have a really good game. I don’t think, obviously, that Toledo was giving us that and that is what we were taking. But at the same time, any given game they can do that.

Q: When the offense got tempo going it was clicking well. Is that what the offense can be?
Shapen: Yeah that’s exactly what we want it to be and that’s what we’re working to get. Like I said this whole interview, we’ve got to get a first down. That’s ultimately what it starts with. It sounds very simple but everything we have to clean up to get to that, I believe we’re doing a good job of doing that.

Q: Florida is also a hungry team looking to win. What’s the sense of urgency this weekend for Mississippi State?
Shapen: It’s huge. This game is the biggest game of the year because it’s the next one, obviously. At the same time, we know how hungry they are. They’re a really good football team, very talented, have very good players and run a good defense. So we got to be on our ‘A’ game to be able to beat them at 11 o’clock on Saturday.

Q: What have you seen so far from Florida?
Shapen: Like I said, very talented, fly around the field. They execute pretty well and they got really good players.

Q: How much fun is it to have the receivers you have?
Shapen: No doubt. These are the best receivers I’ve ever played with in my career. They’re very talented and it gives me a lot of confidence to be able to throw them the ball. We got to continue to get better and continue to grow. I think we’re going to click at some point. We just got to continue to get better.

Q: What has the mood and energy been like this week?
Shapen: I think this week everyone understands we got to get a win this week. That’s the mentality and that’s the mentality with everyone. Obviously, it’s frustrating coming off a loss against Toledo and the week before. But we can’t look at the past. We have to move forward and figure out what we got to do to beat Florida Saturday.