Baylor sticks with Shapen after QB competition

Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterMay 23, 2023, 12:03 PM ET
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- College football reporter.
- Joined ESPN.com in 2008.
- Graduate of Northwestern University.

Baylor is sticking with Blake Shapen as its starting quarterback after a competition this spring that included Mississippi State transfer Sawyer Robertson.

Coach Dave Aranda told local reporters Tuesday that Shapen, who won the starting job last spring and held it throughout an up-and-down 2022 season, will remain the team’s top quarterback. Shapen completed 63.3% of his passes for 2,790 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season as Baylor, the defending Big 12 champion, went 6-7 overall and 4-5 in conference play.

The player born in Shreveport, Louisiana, emerged as a freshman in 2021, passing for 596 yards and five touchdowns. Last spring, he beat out incumbent starter Gerry Bohanon, who would transfer to South Florida.

Shapen started strong, passing for seven touchdowns and one interception in the first four games and displaying strong accuracy. But he had three games with two or more interceptions in Big 12 play and failed to reach 270 passing yards in his last seven games.

Robertson, ESPN’s No. 56 overall player in the 2021 class, appeared in five games last season for Mississippi State. Aranda said that Robertson made significant progress toward the end of spring practice but that Shapen had earned the right to keep the starting job.