100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 2 Days - No. 2 QB Blake Shapen and S Isaac Smith

Jeff Lebby’s era of Mississippi State football has arrived.

The Bulldogs are on their third coach in as many years as Mike Leach’s tragic passing opened the door for defensive coordinator Zach Arnett’s debut as head coach last year. That experiment failed before the year even ended for State and now it’s Lebby’s turn to take the wheel.

While there is always a risk in hiring first time head coaches, Lebby brings to Starkville an exciting offensive scheme that has been productive everywhere he’s been. The coach has also brought with him some swagger that has the fanbase ready to see what’s next.

We are mere days away from game day for State and the start of the Lebby era and we’re finishing out this 100-day countdown this week.

Today, we look at two important members of the offense and the defense.

100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 2 Days

No. 2, Sr. QB Blake Shapen        

When the Bulldogs were going into the offseason without a veteran quarterback for Lebby’s offense, Shapen was not the first player that came first to mind for many.

Bulldog fans everywhere started to hope for bigger names, but Shapen quietly committed to Lebby shortly after the coach took the job in Starkville. While the initial reaction was confusion, Shapen quickly earned the praise of State fans when they watched him in the spring and heard the coaches speak on his attributes.

A native of Shreveport, La. and an alum of Evangel Christian Academy, Shapen was a class of 2020 player that would land at Baylor. There were some impressive offers that came in from USC, Arizona and Ole Miss among others as Shapen had over 2,000 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions as a senior.

At Baylor, Shapen would redshirt his first year in 2020 but got his opportunity in 2021 when an injury thrust him into action. His biggest moment came in the Big 12 championship where he was 23-for-28 for 180 yards and three touchdowns and set a conference championship record when he completed 17-straight passes.

Shapen finished his redshirt freshman year with 596 passing yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions in six games. He followed that up with a big year in 2022 when he had 2,790 yards and 18 touchdowns in 13 games with 10 interceptions. Shapen had a concussion early last year that would disrupt some of his junior season but threw for 2,188 yards in just eight games with 13 touchdowns and three picks.

In a more wide-open offense this year in Starkville, Shapen could be in for his best season yet. He has some strong weapons around him and has earned the trust of his teammates. He’s set up to finish his solid career in a big way.

No. 2, So. S Isaac Smith     

The Fulton native is right on schedule for the Bulldogs.

He came to Starkville as one of the top defensive backs in the country and the Bulldogs had to win a major recruiting battle to even get him on campus. It was easy to see why Smith was so highly touted if fans got a chance to watch him play at Itawamba AHS.

For the Indians, he was everything. He started making his impact as a freshman and he had 132 tackles during his 9^th and 10^th grade seasons with eight interceptions. As a junior, Smith started doing a little bit of everything as he had over 1,000 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards with 28 touchdowns.

Some of the top schools in the country began coming after him with LSU, Georgia, Texas A&M and others throwing their hat in the ring. He would put together another strong season as a senior when he had over 1,500 total yards of offense and 18 touchdowns with 65 tackles, nine interceptions and 4.0 TFL on defense.

Smith earned Class 4A Mr. Football, was on the Clarion Ledger Dandy Dozen list and earned a spot in the Under Armour All-American game. All the while he was getting a hard push from State, Ole Miss and LSU.

On signing day, those three teams were the main school in the mix and it came down to the Bulldogs and Tigers. In the end, he would choose to stay home and play for Arnett.

  Smith’s first season might have played out a little differently last year had he been able to take part in spring. Shoulder surgery from his high school injury caused him to miss the entirety of spring practices and he wouldn’t be available until training camp. He was still good enough to get on the field in year one and helped State, mostly, on special teams in all 12 games.

Lack of depth got him on the field a bit on defense as he finished the year with 15 tackles, but it was mostly a year of learning for the talented defensive back.

Since the spring this year, Smith’s game has hit a new level. He earned himself a starting spot for this Saturday as he’s been one of the Bulldogs’ best safeties all training camp.