The Mississippi State Bulldogs will be without starting quarterback Blake Shapen on Oct. 12 against the Georgia Bulldogs. Shapen is out for the season after suffering a shoulder injury against the Florida Gators on Sept. 21.
Shapen, a Baylor transfer, completed 68.5% of his passes for 974 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception this season. In his place, Mississippi State has turned to freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren.
Against Florida and Texas, Van Buren completed 52.8% of his passes for 244 passing yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback is mobile and has one rushing touchdown this season. The freshman signal caller has taken eight sacks in two games.
Van Buren and Mississippi State had an extra week to prepare for Georgia, which should help him adjust to running the Bulldogs’ offense. Mississippi State also uses freshman quarterback Chris Parsons primarily as a rusher (four rushes for 20 yards against Texas). However, Van Buren and Parsons face a steep challenge against the Georgia Bulldogs.
Georgia has the fifth-best passing defense in the SEC (169.6 yards per game) despite facing four Power Four opponents in five games.
“He’s (Michael Van Buren) a tremendous athlete. I think they’ve allowed him to do some things that he’s really good at, and they’re mixing the other quarterback in with quarterback run. So, they both are capable runners, but they bring Chris (Parson) in and do more stuff with him,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for (Mississippi State coach) Jeff Lebby and his offense… They’re hard to defend because they space you out, they spread you out, they tempo you, they count your numbers in the box. They’re almost always going to be right in terms of what they run,” said Smart.
Georgia will look to put Mississippi State in obvious passing situations. If Georgia can build up a two- or three-score lead, then Mississippi State will be in trouble.
