Baylor QB Blake Shapen Not Expected to Play in Sugar Bowl
The 2021 Big 12 Championship Most Valuable Player will not be available for the Sugar Bowl, as Baylor head coach Dave Aranda announced that Blake Shapen has not been practicing due to a shoulder injury he sustained sometime after the Big 12 Championship.
Shapen was electric in the first half of his last game, completing his first 17 passes for 151 yards with three touchdowns in thirty minutes of play. Those three touchdowns proved to be enough as the Bears would go on to win 21-16 after a goal-line stand late in the fourth quarter.
After his performance in the Big 12 title game, Shapen was expected to at least battle for the start against Ole Miss with Gerry Bohanon dealing with a hamstring injury. However, that will not be the case and it sounds like Bohanon will be ready to go against the Rebels, according to Aranda in a press conference on Monday.
As long as Bohanon is 100% going into the game, Baylor will have an excellent chance to leave New Orleans with a win. His ability to run the football should give Ole Miss issues, as it has all season long. That, coupled with the duo of Trestan Ebner and Abram Smith, should be enough offensively to give Ole Miss co-defensive coordinators D.J. Durkin and Chris Partridge nightmares.
The Allstate Sugar Bowl kicks off at 7:45 p.m. CT in the Caesars Superdome on January 1, 2022. The line has flipped several times in this one, and the Rebels are currently favored by 1.0 point.
