STARKVILLE — Kamario Taylor stepped to his left in the pocket, then the Mississippi State football quarterback side-stepped to his right to make three Ole Miss defenders whiff on a sack.

He dashed up field with just one more defender to beat. Taylor juked him, scoring a 35-yard rushing touchdown.

That’s the player MSU coach Jeff Lebby said is the center of the 2026 roster rebuild on Nov. 28.

It was after Taylor made his first career start in the Egg Bowl. Although it didn’t lead to a win, the 38-19 loss for the Bulldogs (5-7, 1-7 SEC) to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 10-1) showed a potential future star for MSU at quarterback.

“As we continue to build it the right way and build these pieces of the roster around (Taylor) that’s going to be really important,” Lebby said. “I think we got somebody that’s going to catch a snap every single down and is going to be an elite player in this conference and in America.

“So building it the right way around him, creating stability for him will be huge. We’ve got to go get the pieces up front, offensively, and that will be a huge point of emphasis as we ready for the portal piece of it.”

Evaluating Kamario Taylor’s first Mississippi State start

The Egg Bowl wasn’t the first extended playing time this season for Taylor, a four-star freshman from Noxubee County.

He replaced starter Blake Shapen twice in the final month of the season because of injuries. Taylor played in all but two games, mainly for his running ability.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor led MSU to a 97-yard opening drive touchdown against Ole Miss. He scored on a 22-yard rushing touchdown. The offense struggled after that though, scoring six points until Taylor’s 35-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“I feel like I could’ve executed a lot better,” Taylor said. “We left some stuff on the field. I wish I could get some plays back. Going into this, Coach Lebby made sure I was confident and Blake was very supportive of me, helping me learn like where they are going and what they’re trying to do to try to mess with me. He was very supportive, so I went into the game very confident.”

Taylor completed 15 of 31 passes for 178 yards and one interception on a pass that was tipped twice, one play after Taylor ran for a 39-yard gain. He rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns, the first MSU quarterback since Garrett Schrader in 2019 to have over 100 rushing yards in a game.

It wasn’t perfect, as demonstrated by his completion percentage below 50%. Taylor will have to keep improving his accuracy. But the play-making ability was evident as he eluded tackles. The debut start was enough to give hope for Mississippi State in 2026.

MORE: Why Jeff Lebby turned to Kamario Taylor, benched Blake Shapen for Egg Bowl

“Moving forward, we are going to do some special things at Davis Wade,” Taylor said. “We trust Coach Lebby 100%. We know he’s going to put us in the right positions, so we just got to execute.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby said he thought hard about the team’s quarterback situation the day after its 49-27 loss to Missouri on Nov. 15.

Then he made the decision that many fans had been wanting. He benched quarterback Blake Shapen for freshman Kamario Taylor.

The Bulldogs kept the decision under wraps until Taylor trotted onto the field as the starter in the 2025 Egg Bowl. It was his first career start as MSU (5-7, 1-7 SEC) lost 38-19 to No. 6 Ole Miss (11-1, 7-1) at Davis Wade Stadium on Nov. 28.

Shapen had been Mississippi State’s quarterback in all of the other games.

“Really, really hard decision for me,” Lebby said. “As we got back from Missouri, thought about it nonstop on Sunday. For me, as hard as it was to make, the results hadn’t been what we needed. For us, I felt like things had not been great for us up front. Who’s the guy that has the ability to make a couple of plays when things aren’t perfect?

“(Taylor) had done some good things, and I felt like it was the right time. For me, it was incredibly hard because of my love for Blake, his toughness and how he has led and continued to be exactly who he’s supposed to be. For me, really hard, but beginning of last week we made that decision.”

Taylor, a former four-star recruit from Noxubee County, led MSU on an opening-drive touchdown, but the offense was inconsistent for the rest of the game until a second touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Taylor completed 15 of 31 pass attempts for 178 yards and one interception that tipped off the hands of two players. Where he was most impactful though was as a runner with 173 yards and two touchdowns.

“I was kind of nervous when he announced it,” Taylor said. “He didn’t announce it to the whole team, but he just told me. He asked me if I was nervous, and I told him nah, I wasn’t. But like, I was nervous.

“I knew that God gave me this ability to go showcase the things he allows me to do. I was pretty confident, but I was nervous, especially playing in a big game like that.”

How Blake Shapen handled getting benched for Kamario Taylor

Shapen not playing in the Egg Bowl meant the graduate senior’s career ended with a benching.

He played four seasons at Baylor before transferring to MSU in 2024. Shapen was the starter last season too, until suffering a season-ending fractured shoulder blade in Week 4.

MORE: What happened in Egg Bowl scuffle between Ole Miss, Mississippi State football players

“I’m sure really hard,” Lebby said. “Incredibly hard. Blake’s poured a lot into this and he’s been an unbelievably consistent person inside our building for two years. And he’s been through a lot.

“For him not to have the ability to go do it today is hard for him. And it’s hard for me because of who he’s been, his toughness and how he has absolutely laid it on the line for me and this university. It’s really hard for him and hate that this was the end for him.”

Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.