Blake Shapen, QB for Mississippi State, tells McElroy & Cubelic what he loves about Jeff Lebby's offense & what SEC stadium he's most excited to play in
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All right, welcome back in. McIlroy and Kubelik in the morning going ad lib here again as Mississippi State quarterback Blake Chapin joins the show.

Blake, when I did the spring game for you guys, the one thing that I kind of knew was there but I didn't know to the extent, and then when your head coach began talking about it, was your mobility. How much do you plan on putting that on display? And how much do you think that that might exceed some people's expectations as being a part of your game in this offense? Yeah, I think for me, through the offense, it doesn't require you to run the football a ton. But being able to take off when I need to, being able to use my legs,

whenever I need to is a big thing for me. So, you know, within the offense, though, there's not a ton of ass to run, but whenever I need to, I will. Looking at just how this offense is kind of coming together, a bunch of transfers, a lot of new guys, how do you establish a leadership role when there are so many new faces and you yourself are also new? Yeah, I think also going into my last year, that's been a big emphasis on, you know, being able to lead this team in the right way.

Getting there early on, it was tough just because you didn't know anyone. Being able to build relationships with these guys off the field so they know who you are as a person was a big thing for me so they can trust you on the field and trust you in the locker room and the way that you handle things. We've talked about, because we know Jeff, that there's a misconception that he's this sort of soft, like,

hybrid air raid guy and he's just not i mean he's gritty he's football guy like he wants to be physical punish people what's the biggest misconception of this offense that fans need to know

I think running the football gets overlooked. In this offense, we've got to be able to run the football to be able to be successful, and I think that's in every offense. But I think everybody sees the deep balls, the big plays, the explosive plays, and they forget about the fact that the running back can rush for also over 200 yards too. So I feel like that's a big deal for us is being able to run the football going into this year. I'm sure when you entered the portal, and you've had some really bright moments in your time at Baylor, when you entered the portal, I'm sure a bunch of folks called. Why was it Mississippi State for you?

So for me, I wanted to play in the SEC. You know, I grew up watching SEC football. From Shreveport, right? Shreveport, Louisiana. Yeah. I grew up watching SEC ball.

Coach Levy called me, and I knew because he had just got the Mississippi State job. I knew that if he were to call me, that was somebody that I would want to play for. I got to watch OU whenever I was at Baylor and see that person. So it was fun to watch, and I knew if he called, like, it was a no-brainer for me. Before you were born, I saw Vanilla Ice perform twice in Shreveport, Louisiana, and won both visits. Oh, wow.

The Independence Bowl is something special. I'm just going to let you know. In my heart, it's always going to hold a special place there. I got you. I'm not sure that that's something that I should be bragging about, but it actually did happen. Oh, yeah. I got you. I'm interested, too. One thing I wanted to see from you in the spring game, and sometimes this is like I can talk to Greg about it. He'll know exactly what I mean. But some other folks, they don't kind of get it. They want to see you complete 20 deep passes, this, that. I said, I want to see him operate the offense.

And getting the ball out on time, rhythm timing on the RPO throws, the mesh, keeping the ball, handing the ball off, all that looked really comfortable for you.

Where were you most uncomfortable at the beginning of spring that you feel like you're very comfortable with now in this offense? I think for sure the RPO stuff. Coach Lebby teaches it in a very specific way and how he wants it done. And being able to get those reads down, I didn't do a lot of RPO stuff at Baylor, so that was the biggest uncomfortable thing for me that I had to learn very quickly. And then quick game footwork. He does quick game footwork a lot different, and he wants the ball out as soon as your feet hit. So it's a big timing deal.

And so just being able to get the timing right on all those things is big. Take us, kind of peel back the curtain. What's the most difficult part with that RPO? Is it visual? Is it something physical, like physical?

Getting turned, getting the ball out. What was the most difficult part of sort of getting acclimated to that? I think it was the footwork. So our footwork's a lot different. The way our hands are, the way we pop and throw to our RPOs, it's a lot different than a regular RPO team. And y'all have seen it with Dylan Gabriel and Matt Corral back in whatever year that was, 2020, 2021. Just being able to, like, pop and throw and being on time with those things. So that's the biggest difference. When you –

Tee it up. I know it's Easter Kentucky the first time. What are you most interested in? Because I remember, I literally to this day still remember my first SEC snap. It was against Arkansas, and you can just tell it's faster. I don't know why, but it just is. You've played in the Big 12. You've seen big boy football.

What do you anticipate that first snap looking like from the shotgun spot there against an SEC team? I'm just excited to get to the game. We've been playing against each other for a while, so I'm excited to see another opponent. I'm excited to play in Davis-Wade. I've heard it's pretty electric. I'm excited to see the crowd, the cowbells, and hear all that. Soak it all in. Blake, we appreciate you hopping on with us today. Wish you the best. Excited to see you in this offensive fall. Yes, sir. Thank you all for having me on. There you go. Mississippi State quarterback Blake Chapin joining us right here.

On Radio Row Live, JOX 94.5, as we continue going on day three from Radio Row, Kalen DeBoer will be at the podium on the other side. Yes, we had him on the show a little bit earlier, but as Greg talked about, a lot of people interested to see what he has to say, how he has to say it. And I'm with Greg. The one thing that I want is for Kalen DeBoer to just be himself. People to get to know him, see his personality, see what he's about, because...

It's likable. It's approachable. And I think when people get to see that, Greg, they're going to like what they see. I'm really excited to just hear maybe a story or two about an interaction with a player also. I think that would be really valuable and how he's kind of endeared himself to the locker room and has really won the trust of a lot of those guys. All right, so we'll keep rolling. Kalen DeBoer from the podium in the big room next live from SEC Media Days Day 3.

Radio Row, jocks, 94.5. Catch up with all things McElroy and Kubrick in the morning by subscribing to the podcast. Mythically, he's grown. He's almost like a little bit bigger than...

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