New journey about to begin for Blake Shapen at State

It’s been nine grueling months for Blake Shapen preparing to hit the football field again and so much has changed for the quarterback.

Shapen was set up to have the best season of his career with the Baylor Bears last season before a head injury took four games from him. A change of scenery was what he chose for one last ride and he found an offense that fit his skill set better than any in Jeff Lebby’s Mississippi State unit.

After spending the last several months learning the scheme and trying to perfect it with his teammates, he’s now just a couple of days away from putting it all into motion.

“I think I’m just excited to get the season going. We’ve been going against each other for a long time so it’s just excitement to get out there and play my first game in Starkville,” Shapen said. “It’s going to be cool because I’ve been in the same stadium for four years. Being able to run out somewhere different, especially a place like here, I’ve heard how electric it is.”

Lots of new faces bring new excitement for Shapen, Bulldogs

The first game running out of the tunnel at Davis Wade Stadium will be a new feeling to more than just Shapen. Lebby took over a roster that was flipping quickly with new players.

Shapen joins a plethora of offensive starters that will be wearing the maroon and white for the first time with eight starters expecting to make their State debut. The defensive side is nearly the same, but it’s not something that scares coaches or players anymore.

“This is new in college football and is kind of the norm now,” Shapen said. “It’s definitely different than what it used to be and you’ve got to grow quickly with guys. I feel like our team has done a really good job of doing that. It’s different from the past, but it’s been something that we took in a great way so it’s been a good transition for us.”

The biggest part of Shapen’s transition to State has been working behind an offensive line that is entirely new with not only him but each other. The Bulldogs will start four transfers on Saturday with (left to right) Makylan Pounders, Jacoby Jackson, Ethan Miner and Marlon Martinez joining returning blocker Albert Reese up front.

One of the first things that Shapen did when he arrived in the spring was that he began building those relationships with the guys that will be protecting him. From the spring to now, there has been a whole lot of progress made from the chemistry side of things.  

“I think they’ve just grown together,” Shapen said of the offensive line. “When you get in a system for a long time, I feel like reps and doing it over and over again helps a lot. For those guys to continue to do what they do every day and grow in their craft has been good and given them a lot of confidence.”

It’s tough for a transfer to come into a program and take hold of the leadership side of things like Shapen has done, but his work with the offensive line is proof. He also has been key in the early development of the guys behind him like Chris Parson and Michael Van Buren.

No matter the time that Shapen has spent in Starkville, his experience in the Power 4 of college football is invaluable. He is getting just a few months in Starkville and moving on, but he wants to leave the program in better shape than he found it and he believes it will be in good hands with the duo battling it out behind him.

“Those guys are great guys and they want to learn. They’re picking up any information to grow just like I am,” Shapen said. “We all came in pretty much at the same time since we’re all new to coach Lebby’s system. It’s been good to grow with those guys and hopefully my experience has helped them out a little bit to give them a little experience without playing much.”

As gameday is closing in for Shapen and the Bulldogs, he and his team are flying under the radar. Most predictions have him towards the bottom of the league among quarterbacks and the Bulldogs’ spot is similarly placed.

Those preseason predictions mean nothing to Shapen as he’s been all business since his arrival. He put up 5,574 passing yards and 36 touchdowns during his three years in Waco so he’s done it on the big stage. This weekend, he’s excited to get things started off in his new journey and wants the trajectory to point upward each week.

“For us, just to put on the field what we put out in practice. For us to see the growth and honestly just go out and have fun and enjoy what we’re doing,” Shapen said of the measure of success on Saturday. “We’ve practiced so many different times just to play these football games so it’s mostly about going out and having fun and executing what the gameplan is.”