As Mississippi State begins to prepare for its first bowl game in three seasons, it will be doing so without quarterback Blake Shapen.
Head coach Jeff Lebby said during a Wednesday press conference that Shapen is “at home” in Louisiana and preparing for the next stage of his career, rather than suiting up with his teammates ahead of a Jan. 2 matchup against Wake Forest in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
“Blake is at home, and he’s training getting ready for an all-star game, getting ready for pro day,” Lebby said, confirming Shapen is no longer with the team.
Shapen was brought to Starkville from Baylor for Lebby’s inaugural campaign in 2024 but went down with a season-ending injury in week four. He returned in 2025 as a graduate player and started all of the Bulldogs’ games before being benched for freshman Kamario Taylor going into the regular-season finale against Ole Miss. At the time, Lebby said Shapen took the news of his benching “really hard” after being an “unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years.”
Shapen finishes his career at Mississippi State with 3,407 passing yards and 23 touchdowns compared to nine interceptions. Across five seasons at Baylor and Mississippi State, he tossed for 8,981 yards and 59 touchdowns with 22 interceptions.
Taylor, on the other hand, showed glimpses of stardom in his debut as the starter, and although Mississippi State lost to the College Football Playoff-bound Rebels, the Noxubee County product compiled 178 passing yards and 173 rushing yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception.
Lebby confirmed during Wednesday’s press conference that Taylor will start the bowl game and sophomore Luke Kromenhoek will be behind him.
“Kamario will go [with the ones] and then Luke obviously will be incredibly involved and be the two as we get into it,” Lebby said.
The head coach also took some time to reflect on how Mississippi State, with a 5-7 regular-season record, landed in a bowl game without reaching the typical six-win requirement. The Bulldogs qualified after Iowa State and Kansas State had players vote not to participate in the postseason, and with one of the better academic progress rates amongst then-eligible teams, they were selected for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
“We definitely didn’t think we’d be playing in a bowl game. We got a phone call Sunday around mid-morning talking about the possibility of it and making sure we were in great alignment on what we wanted to be able to do,” Lebby said. “For us, it’s a no-brainer for our program to have these practices, to be able to be together, to be able to lift the way we’re going to be able to lift the next month, and keeping these guys around us to be able to take advantage of this great opportunity.
“Our guys in the building are incredibly excited about it. I’m surprised that we get to go do this, but we’re going to take advantage of it. I think it’s huge for our program and development.”
Lebby said the extra month of practice should help with roster retention as the main transfer portal window opens on Jan. 2 – the same day as the team’s bowl game – and allows incoming coaches to watch the team practice and begin building relationships.
Mississippi State fired defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler after the regular season and brought in Zach Arnett for the 2026 campaign. The program also announced Matt Brock as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator, Bush Hamdan as associate head coach for offense, and Kevie Thompson as assistant secondary coach.
“You get away from these [players], and they have all this time and an idle mind and it’s not good. I think it’s a huge advantage,” Lebby said regarding roster retention before discussing the advantages postseason practice offers for new assistants. “Being able to go out and watch these guys practice every day, evaluate the current roster, be in the building…is a huge advantage.”
Mississippi State (5-7, 1-7 SEC) will play Wake Forest (8-4, 4-4 ACC) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. CT. Per tradition, the winning team’s coach gets a cooler full of mayonnaise dumped on him, and even though Lebby said he doesn’t like mayonnaise, he’s “never been more excited about the opportunity to get it dumped on me.”