QB Blake Shapen, Baylor Offense Struggles in First Half vs. Texas State
The Baylor Bears welcomed the Texas State Bobcats to Mclane Stadium in Waco on Saturday, hoping to turn the page from a disappointing upset loss to the BYU Cougars in Week 2.
So far, the Bears have managed to do just that, leading the Bobcats 21-7 after the first place.
A big part of the Bears' first-half lead belongs to the strong play of the defense, which held Texas State to 154 yards of total offense and just one score, with two fourth-down stops, including one at the Baylor goal line late in the second quarter that would have cut the Bears lead in half at the time.
Still, the Texas State offense has been able to move the football at times, with Layne Hatcher completing 17 of 21 passes for 125 yards and wide receiver AShtyn Hawkins catching nine passes for 72 yards and a touchdown with a long of 17 yards.
He also completed his 10 passes in a row to end the first half.
However, while the defense did their job, Dave Aranda's offense was far from perfect through the first half of play.
As a team, the Bears managed just 154 yards of total offense heading into the locker room, with quarterback Blake Shapen completing 11 of 18 passes for just 95 yards.
In fact, it was the running game that once again carried the Baylor offensive attack, with Sqwirl Williams and Richard Reese combining for 15 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns.
Baylor was able to kick start the offense on the last drive of the half, with a 96-yard drive that was capped off with a 35-yard touchdown run from Shapen to give Baylor the 21-7 lead.
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Matt Galatzan the Editor-In-Chief of InsideTheBears.com, TheGroveReport.com, RamDigest.com, AllSeahawks.com, and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com