Bears Fall in Season Opener

Saturday, September 2

Waco, Texas

6PM

Baylor

0-1 , 0-0

Texas State

1-0 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas State

Baylor

Bears Fall in Season Opener

9/2/2023 10:49:00 PM | Football

Box Score Game Book (PDF)Baylor Post-Game Notes (PDF)

Shapen throws for 303 yards, two touchdowns in 42-31 loss to Texas State

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            WACO, Texas – Dave Aranda prides himself on being very detail-oriented and putting his Baylor football team "in the best position to not beat ourselves."
            In Saturday's season opener at McLane Stadium, the fourth-year head coach said he "failed to do that."
            Fighting through an apparent knee injury, junior quarterback Blake Shapen threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and also scored on a nine-yard keeper before missing the last six minutes of the game. But Texas State used a big first half to hand the Bears their first season-opening loss in six years, 42-31.
            "Very disappointing loss," Aranda said. "Throughout camp, just talking about how many games are lost early in the season rather than won. And it's hard to talk about that because I don't want that in any way to take anything away from Texas State. The energy they played with and the penetration they got and the excitement they played with was really strong."
            First-year head coach G.J. Kinne, who retooled the Bobcats' roster with 71 new players, picked up his 13^th collegiate win after a 12-2 season at FCS Incarnate Word last year. Auburn transfer TJ Finley completed 22-of-30 passes for 298 yards and three touchdowns and also scored on a 16-yard option keeper to help Texas State beat a Power Five team for the first time in program history.
            "I wouldn't say I silenced (the doubters)," said Finley, who made 11 starts combined in three years at LSU and Auburn. "As a team, we put our foot down and let everybody know we're here and we're coming."
            Trying to rally from an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit, the Bears closed the gap with Shapen's two-yard TD pass to tight end Drake Dabney with 8:52 left in the game. Dabney had a career day with six catches for 101 yards and two TDs, including a career-high 53-yarder.
            Walking with a noticeable limp before connecting with Arkansas transfer Ketron Jackson Jr. on a two-point play that made it a 28-21 game early in the third quarter, Shapen "gave everything he had," Aranda said.
            "There was a point where we had to take Blake off the field," he said. "It was late in the game, and he had his brace on (his left leg) and was all wrapped up. He wanted to play, but I just told him, 'Blake, we can't protect you right now. I know you want to be able to fight through this thing and you want to go. But we can't protect. No one's going to feel right if there's a hit on you that's an unnecessary one.' I'm really proud of him and his effort."
            After the defense forced a quick three-and-out by the Bobcats, Shapen was back on the field and converted a fourth-and-13 with a 15-yard pass to sophomore receiver Jonah Burton. But that turned out to be his last play of the game.
            Backup QB Sawyer Robertson overcame a sack to convert twice on third downs and get the Bears down to the 5-yard line. But on first-and-goal, his pass was tipped by receiver Monaray Baldwin and intercepted by safety Shawn Holton in the end zone for a touchback.
            "How many goal-to-gos we had, we'd have penalties where the ball got moved back, or we'd give the ball away," Aranda said. "Just all the opportunities that we had, that we did not capitalize on. And I take responsibility for that."
            Baylor's last-ditch try was snuffed out on the next series, when Robertson broke loose for a 31-yard run but fumbled it away on a strip by linebacker Ben Bell that was recovered by safety Kaleb Culp with 2:06 left and the Bears out of timeouts.
            "It hurts for everyone, players, coaches and myself included," said Dabney, who had Baylor's first 100-yard receiving game by a tight end since Ken Hodge had six catches for 121 yards versus Oregon State in 1964.
            "Obviously, not the way we wanted to come out to start the season, but I still have so much belief in this team and the guys we have. We can definitely bounce back from this and learn from it. And the good thing is, we have a big opportunity next week to make up for it."
            Hitting on big plays, Texas State scored on a 65-yard touchdown run by third-string running back Ismail Mahdi and a 27-yard TD pass from Finley to fourth-stringer Donerio Davenport, taking a stunning 28-13 halftime lead on the Bears.
            Baylor started the game with a bang, with Shapen hooking up with Hal Presley for a 40-yard pass down the far sideline. But after a 15-yard run by Dominic Richardson to the 1, the Bears were flagged for the first of five first-half false-start penalties and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Isaiah Hankins.
            "We just had a hard time getting the ball off on go," Aranda said. "We're going to have to make adjustments, and what are things we could do better so that we could snap the ball? I think there was some stemming (from Texas State defensive linemen), where they would make a move call, but it wasn't all that. A lot of that was us."
            After the Bobcats got on the board with a 10-yard pass from Finley to Mahdi out of the backfield, the defense came up with a big play when redshirt freshman Devonte Tezino sacked Finley and forced a fumble that freshman end Trey Wilson recovered at the Texas State 36.
            A pass interference penalty was negated by a pair of false start penalties, but Hankins booted a career-long 53-yarder to make it a one-point game, 7-6.
        The Bobcats took a two-score lead, 21-6, on the back-to-back big-play touchdowns before Shapen scored from nine yards out for Baylor's first touchdown of the 2023 season. Converting on fourth down for the third time, Texas State drove it 75 yards in 12 plays and scored on a Jahmyl Jeter one-yard run in the final minute.
            "They really didn't do anything special. Hats off to them, they played their hearts out," said Liberty transfer Mike Smith Jr., who shared the team lead with five tackles and had one of the team's six stops behind the line. "It was just us. We had to pay more attention. We let stuff happen on our end, and we've just got to play better next week."
            Shapen got the Bears into Bobcat territory with a hurry-up offense, completing 4-of-5 passes for 40 yards, but Hankins missed a 58-yard field goal try on the last play of the half.
            Baylor racked up 525 yards, including a combined 416 yards passing by Shapen and Robertson, but managed just 108 yards rushing on 32 attempts. Jackson caught six passes for 71 yards in his debut in the green and gold, while Richardson had a combined 98 yards on 18 touches.
            The Bears will face 14^th-ranked Utah (1-0) in the second of four-straight home games at 11 a.m. next Saturday, Sept. 9, in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN. Utah, a future Big 12 opponent, opened with a 24-11 win over the Florida Gators on Thursday night.
            "Right now is when we have to stick together more than ever," Dabney said. "It's tough that we had to go out this way for the first game, but I think just watching film, being honest with ourselves, seeing where we went wrong and what we can do better. Just the little things, not beating ourselves, and just going back to work and giving it our all in the preparation this week."

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