40 in 40: Why Mississippi State’s insurance plan at QB is important in 2025

Of the players and coaches that have appeared or will appear in our series of the 40 Most Important Bulldogs in 40 Days, there haven’t been any true backups.

Today, that changes.

Today we’re adding a player that’s a backup because he’s behind Blake Shapen on the quarterback depth chart.

But first, a quick personal anecdote to help set the tone of why a backup can be important.

In high school, I played offensive line. I was never a starter and my senior year I was the immediate backup to all five offensive line positions.

The job of a backup is to know everything the starter knows, be ready to go in at a moment’s notice and play well. For me, that meant knowing the entire playbook for five different positions.

One game early in my senior year we’re playing a team (Irving High School, for anyone interested) we had lost to the last two seasons, but we were favored to win this time and we really wanted to win this game.

At some point in the game, our starting center came running to the sideline with his arm in the air and blood streaking down his arm. Me being the good backup saw that, buckled my chin strap and since I was already standing behind my coach, he only got halfway through yelling out my name before realizing I was standing behind him.

I entered the game, heard the play call (it was a screen play to the right with a “kick, seal, lead” concept and I was the lead in that assignment), somehow got a good snap off with a 300-pound defensive tackle committed to a Div. I school right in front of me, didn’t get bull-rushed and made it front of the receiver to throw down a cut block for a 10-15 yard gain.

Then the starting center came back in and the offense wound up scoring a touchdown. We won the game and I got a lot of “great jobs” from my coaches. (Yes, this was my proudest moment in my high school career.)

That’s the job of a backup. Know the playbook, be ready to go at anytime and execute your assignment. Even if it’s one play, you go out and keep the team moving forward (or backwards if you’re on defense) so that when the starter comes back in, they’re not in a bad situation.

That’s the job transfer quarterback Luke Kromenhoek will have in 2025 and what makes him important to Mississippi State in 2025.

Who is Luke Kromenhoek?

A native of Savannah, Ga., Kromenhoek was a consensus four-star quarterback and the No. 3 rated quarterback in the nation (No. 30 overall). He threw for more than 7,000 yards and 73 touchdowns in his high school career that also saw him win two state championships.

What happened in 2024?

Out of the 133 FBS program spread across the country, no team had a more shockingly bad season than Florida State.

Florida State went from a top 10 ranking to unranked faster than we realized Mississippi State was going to be lucky to win three games (of course, that was before the Toledo game).

The Seminoles also went 2-10 last season, but not much of that blame is laid at the feet of Kromenhoek. As a true freshman, he played in six games and started two games (against Charleston Southern and Florida) late in the season. He ended the season with 502 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and completed 52.4 percent of his passes. He also had 113 rushing yards.

Why will he be important in 2025?

The classic joke is that the most popular player on an average-to-bad football team is the backup quarterback. But, no joke, the backup quarterback is very important.

Injuries are as certain to happen in football as are taxes and death in real life. Shapen, despite his talent, has a substantial injury history. He hasn’t played a full season since 2022, so there must be a plan in place in case he suffers another serious injury.

But even if Shapen avoids a season-ending injury (which would also probably be career-ending at this point), he might get hit hard and need to exit a game for a short period of time. Or maybe a shoe falls of in the middle of a play?

The point is anything can happen and the Bulldogs will need good quarterback play from whoever lines up behind center. Even if it's just for one play that gains 10-15 yards.

Previous 40 in 40 Coaches and Players:

Coaches

Jeff Lebby, Head Coach
Coleman Hutzler, Defensive Coordinator
Phil Loadholt, Offensive line coach

Players

Kedrick Bingley-Jones, DL
Canon Boone, OL
Davon Booth, RB
Fluff Bothwell, RB
DeAgo Brumfield, DB
Jamil Burroughs, DL
Kalvin Dinkins, DL
Antony Evans III, WR
Kyle Ferrie, K
Red Hibbler, DL
Branden Jennings, DL
Kelley Jones, DB
Brylan Lanier, DB
Jahron Manning, DB
Nic Mitchell, LB
Jordan Mosley, WR
Albert Reese IV, OL
Isaac Smith, S
Blake Steen, OL
Brenen Thompson, WR
Zakari Tillman, Edge
Seydou Traore, TE
Hunter Washington, DB

Will Whitson, DL