Who will start at QB for Mississippi State against Missouri?

Blake Shapen left last week's game with an injury and could miss this week's game, which would put a true freshman into the starting role.

Mississippi State Bulldogs quarterback Kamario Taylor (1) reacts after a touchdown against the Georgia Bulldogs during the first half at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

The chorus of calls from Mississippi State’s fans for a quarterback change reached its crescendo when the losing streak reached four games.

After Texas beat Mississippi State in overtime, many fans wanted to see a change at quarterback. Those calls quieted a bit after the Bulldogs beat Arkansas the following week, earning their first SEC win in almost two years.

But those fans wanting a quarterback change may finally get their wish this week.

Quarterback Blake Shapen left Saturday’s 41-21 loss to No. 5 Georgia early in the second half and freshman Kamario Taylor entered the game.

Taylor already had one rushing touchdown and finished the game with three total rushing touchdowns and a team-high 53 yards. He was also 6-for-10 on pass attempts for 87 yards and was sacked once.

For the season, Taylor has 381 total yards and eight touchdowns. It’s clear Taylor is the future starting quarterback for Mississippi State.

Whether or not he makes his first career start this week at Missouri won’t be determined by his ability.

At his Monday press conference, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby said that if Shapen is healthy, he’ll start against Missouri.

“If he's healthy, truly healthy, he'll start,” Lebby said. “It's all about him being healthy. So again, as we evaluate this thing and move through it, we'll see exactly where we're at.”

Lebby is consistent when talking about injuries to players, so don’t expect any major midweek announcements about who will start at quarterback. He’s said on more than one occasion that the availability report will provide the information.

So, the SEC’s website should expect a flood of traffic from Starkville at around 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Lebby did say that Shapen did not practice Monday, but isn’t an indication of his gameday availability.

Last Saturday against Georgia was the most anyone outside of the team has seen Taylor in live action. While it’s crystal clear he’s a special player who could be the spearhead for Mississippi State’s ascent up the rankings, he did show that time may not be right now.

For example, throwing an incomplete pass to a wide open receiver on a bubble screen-like route (and was also nearly a backwards pass).

“That was very uncharacteristic (of Taylor) on a couple of those things Saturday that he has not done in practice,” Lebby said.

That’s not to say Lebby doesn’t have confidence in Taylor should the freshman need to start against Missouri. But he is a freshman.

“I've got great confidence in Kamario,” Lebby said. “We've got to make all the layups and just play inside the scheme, play inside the system. (Taylor) made some great plays for us. He wants a lot of things back, which I knew that he would. And as he watched the tape, there's going to be great growth for him through playing.

“That's the reality of it over these last couple of weeks, and being able to watch the tape, and being able to learn from things. But again, from a confidence standpoint, I've got great confidence in him.”

We’ll know more about the situation on Wednesday night when the first Student-Athlete Availability Report is released.