By Michael Haag | Sports Editor
To fans, it may have felt like Baylor football hit rock bottom when it capped off a 6-7 season with a 30-15 loss to Air Force last year. But the Bears outdid themselves when they gave Texas State its first win over a Power Five opponent in program history, as the Bobcats secured a 42-31 victory Saturday night at McLane Stadium.
Baylor (0-1) entered the game as 26.5-point favorites — rarely threatened by a Texas State (1-0) squad that had a first-year head coach in G.J. Kinne and 71 total newcomers on its roster. The Bears’ only lead came in the first quarter when a false start on the one-yard line resulted in a red zone field goal.
“It’s not acceptable,” head coach Dave Aranda said regarding the loss. “I talked to the team about how it’s not. So I take responsibility for it.”
Redshirt junior quarterback Blake Shapen suffered an MCL injury in his left knee in the second quarter, but he wanted to stay on the field. Shapen came out of the tunnel with his left leg wrapped, and he tried to play through the injury. He continued to take hits, though, and Aranda had to put an end to it.
“He wanted to play, but I just told him, ‘Blake, we can’t protect you right now,’” Aranda said. “‘I know you want to be able to fight through this thing, and you want to go, but we can’t protect you right now. No one’s going to feel right if there’s a hit on you that’s an unnecessary one.’”
Baylor received six false start penalties on Saturday, which made it tough for the offense to get in a rhythm or sustain drives. The Bears’ offensive line was a question mark entering the season since the group only had one returning starter.
“There was a combination of anxiety and, I hate to say, inexperience,” Aranda said. “As I say my words, I just don’t want excuses, so I don’t mean it in that way. But we just had a hard time getting the ball off on ‘go.’”
Texas State responded to Baylor’s opening field goal with an eight-play, 75-yard drive to take a 7-3 lead. The Bears nailed another kick to capitalize on a fumble recovery by seventh-year safety Bryson Jackson, but the Bobcats needed just three plays to make it a 14-6 ballgame late in the first quarter.
Texas State struck first in the second quarter with a back-breaking drive that lasted 5:36. The Bobcats converted two fourth downs as part of a 13-play drive that ended with a touchdown, bringing the score to 21-6.
Baylor clapped back when Shapen scrambled into the end zone from nine yards out, but Texas State scored right back 12 plays later. The Bears stumbled into the half trailing 28-13.
But a jolt of energy struck McLane Stadium when Shapen and the offense marched down the field and scored in three plays to open the second half. It was senior tight end Drake Dabney who hit pay dirt, as he caught Shapen’s pass over the middle, made a man miss and crossed the goal line for a 53-yard reception.
And just like that, Baylor was within a score at 28-21. The Bobcats answered with a deflating eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive to push them back ahead by two possessions. The Bears’ only points for the rest of the quarter came on a 24-yard field goal. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sawyer Robertson stepped in for the injured Shapen on that last drive and nearly caught a touchdown pass on a trick play involving Dabney.
Dabney said it was hard seeing Shapen fight through pain.
“Salute to Blake for just being a soldier out there and giving it all he had, even though his leg wasn’t feeling right,” Dabney said. “That just goes to show his toughness and how bad he wanted to be out there with us.”
Shapen finished with 304 yards on 21-31 passing, adding two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Dabney totaled the first 100-yard receiving game for a Baylor tight end since 1964, when Ken Hodge went for 121 yards against Oregon State.
Finley led another touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter, putting the Bobcats up 42-24, which was the mark Kinne wanted to hit.
“I read the game notes,” Kinne said. “I told those guys before the game that [Aranda] is 0-2 when opponents score 40-plus points, so that was kind of our magic number. If we get to 40, we feel like statistically we win.”
Despite desperate efforts, the Bears couldn’t muster more than a two-yard touchdown to Dabney, courtesy of a hobbled Shapen, resulting in the 42-31 Baylor loss.
Texas State junior wide receiver Joey Hobert, who came down with a one-handed grab near the right sideline in the third quarter, said the historic victory was exciting to fans, but not to those inside the team bubble.
“We shocked the world,” Hobert said. “That’s what we came in to do, but we didn’t shock ourselves.”
The Bears’ chance to bounce back comes with an imposing test in No. 14 Utah next week. The Utes have won the last two Pac-12 championships and could potentially bring back their Heisman Trophy-contending quarterback, senior Cam Rising.
Kickoff for Baylor and Utah is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium. Fifth-year senior Mike Smith Jr. said the team was bummed after the loss but that there was no finger pointing for blame.
“Nobody was talking down to each other,” Smith said. “Everybody was together with one another and just focused on fixing our mistakes and getting ready for next week.”
Injury room:
- Shapen will get an MRI for his left knee injury soon, per Aranda
- Aranda said redshirt sophomore safety Devin Lemear dislocated his elbow and that his status moving forward is uncertain
