STARKVILLE – Mississippi State quarterback Blake Shapen now shoulders the unfortunate burden that many quarterbacks take on: blame.
An interception in the final minute of play against Florida sealed a third straight loss for the Bulldogs, and extended the program’s SEC losing streak to 15 games across three seasons.
It was an ugly end to a game the Bulldogs could have, and certainly believe should have, won against an embattled Florida team that saw its head coach fired the next day. It’s the latest deposit in a deep vault of the MSU sports-pain memory bank, but it was far from the only meaningful moment that decided the game.
A look back beyond short-term memory will remind Bulldog fans that Shapen also threw a last-minute game winner that will forever be a part of the program’s history. Like that moment though, there were so many plays before that could have avoided the need for last-minute heroics in the first place.
The Bulldogs scored just seven points on five drives into Florida territory in the first half. A punt, a fumble, a failed fourth-down attempt and a missed field goal meant that 231 total yards and six explosive plays yielded no end product as MSU fell behind the Gators in a game they could have had wrapped up by halftime.
“We should have started the game 21-3,” Shapen said. “That’s really what it should have been early on. It was 7-3, we didn’t capitalize on two of those drives… I overthrew Brenen on a deep shot down the field, that should have been a touchdown, and the next drive after that we missed another one, and had a run that could have hit for a huge one.”
The offense was rolling on several drives, they just couldn’t finish and find a way into the end zone.
“You have to be able to take advantage of those moments, to take control of the football game,” Lebby said. His evaluation on Monday underscored the same problem of negative plays that hurt his team on the road at Texas A&M, but this time they came in plus territory.
“All these opportunities to take control in the first half because of how we play defensively, and we don’t do it,” he continued. “The way the game ended is frustrating to say the least, but there’s so many moments where you take control and you never put yourself in that situation.”
Part of the job
Shapen isn’t the only one to blame for the final play. The situation itself might have warranted a different approach, but Lebby stood by his decision to play for an easier kick for Kyle Ferrie.
The interception itself also came down to a good defensive approach. The decision to drop Michai Boireau into coverage was the right one, and Boireau himself did well to shuffle in accordance with Shapen’s vision and the route underneath by Anthony Evans. Credit is due on that side of the ball as well.
Any evaluation of Shapen must incorporate more than that one awful moment. He had his best performance by passing yards with 324, and hit on 66.7% of his attempts, but he didn’t get the ball in the end zone when he needed to, and his frustration with his decision making came through on Monday.
“Obviously there’s some good, but I look at the film and, the stats and yards might say one thing, but for me I’ve just got to improve in a lot of different areas,” he said. “One of my worst games in decision making, I’d say. You’ve got to be able to be better in that. There’s opportunities to push the ball downfield, I wish I had a couple of those back.”
Lebby, who has also been the target of blame for the outcome of the final drive, told his quarterback after the game the same thing that he’s said after every game: “You just have to bounce back.”
“That’s part of playing the position,” he said, “It’s part of being the head football coach, that comes with it. And there is great frustration. We’re trying to build on all the positives, how tough this guy is playing and how we were able to create explosives, pitch and catch and rhythm, but we’ve got to finish drives and we’ve got to score now.”
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