Baylor QB Blake Shapen Back to "Joe Cool" In Bears Win vs. Iowa State
Blake Shapen is the quarterback for the Baylor Bears. It's a fact, but one that has come under question, if only mildly, after a few less-than-impressive games against BYU and Texas State. After beating the Iowa State Cyclones on the road Saturday, Shapen's status as the program quarterback is undeniable.
After a seemingly flawless performance against the Albany Great Danes in Week 1, Bears coach Dave Aranda called Shapen "Joe Cool." Nine days later, after rushing the ball 52 times in a loss to BYU, Aranda said there was "uncertainty and timidness" in the passing game.
Saturday, Shapen earned back the moniker from the opening week.
In a charged-up environment in the conference opener, both Shapen and his coach exorcised some road demons as the quarterback threw for 238 yards on 19 completions and 3 touchdowns in a 31-24 win over Iowa State in Ames.
While the numbers aren't the gaudiest we've ever seen, Shapen controlled the game under the center better than we have ever seen him do, with the possible exception being last year's conference title game when he went 17 for his first 17 passes and threw 3 touchdowns against Oklahoma State.
For the first time since that performance against the Cowboys last December, the Bears' offense reverted back to what made them so successful that day. For the first time this season, we saw a lot of empty backfields, four or five wide receivers in the formation, and aggressive first-down passing.
At no point was Shapen cooler than when Baylor got the ball back with 11:11 remaining in the third quarter and winning 17-14. The Bears had picked off Hunter Dekkers on the first possession of the second half but then gave the ball right back to the Cyclones. After another defensive stop for the Bears, Shapen went to work from his own 7-yard line.
Shapen went to seldom-used Josh Cameron for 10 yards. Then, he got chunk plays with completions to Gavin Holmes for 18 yards, then Drake Dabney for 17 yards. When tested on 3rd and 7, he went to Ben Sims for 8 yards to the Iowa State 42-yard line.
Two plays later, Shapen was cool without even throwing the ball.
At the Iowa State 19-yard line, Shapen was in the shotgun, read that the Cyclones were showing blitz, called an audible at the line, and handed off to Richard Reese for a touchdown run. The play-calling played to his strengths all drive and even while he was red hot passing it, he made the perfect read to give the glory to a teammate and put the Cyclones in a real hole.
That is what a winning quarterback does.
Oh, and he threw a beautiful trick play 38-yard touchdown that all but put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Way cool, Joe.
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