Baylor QB Blake Shapen not expected to play against Texas

The Baylor Bears will likely be without redshirt junior starting quarterback Blake Shapen for a third straight game when the No. 3 Texas Longhorns travel up I-35 to Waco for Saturday’s primetime matchup at McLane Stadium, Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said on Monday — Aranda believes that Shapen is “about a week out and I don’t expect him in this game.”

Shapen was 21-of-31 passing for 303 yards and two touchdowns in Baylor’s season-opening loss to Texas State, but was sacked twice and took several other big hits that caused an MCL injury that knocked him out of the game and was initially thought to keep him out for two weeks. Instead, Shapen may miss the Big 12 opener, too.

Redshirt sophomore Sawyer Robertson, a redshirt sophomore Mississippi State transfer who played his high school football at Lubbock Coronado, has filled in for Shapen since his injury. For the season, the 6’4, 220-pounder is 28-of-62 passing (45.2 percent) for 444 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. On the ground, Robertson has nine carries for 47 yards and one touchdown.

The road game in Waco could mark the second straight week the Longhorns have faced a backup quarterback after the Cowboys were forced to start Evan Svoboda instead of Andrew Peasley. Svoboda was 17-of-28 passing for 136 yards against Texas and threw a critical interception returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give Texas a 21-point lead.