Kamario Taylor gives fans a peak at the future, but the present belongs to Blake Shapen

Mississippi State footballs should be optimistic about their favorite team.

We saw enough good things in a 34-17 season-opening win against Southern Miss to be hopeful the Bulldogs will win more than two games this season.

But, looking beyond this season, something that happened Saturday should make fans optimistic about the program’s future.

The highest-rated high school quarterback to sign with Mississippi State, Kamario Taylor, made his collegiate debut against Southern Miss. He was in for two plays, both of which were runs. One run converted a crucial first down and the other was a touchdown run negated by a holding penalty.

It’s only one game and Mississippi State can use Taylor in three more games before burning his redshirt. So, it’s likely we’ll see Taylor again. How much more remains to be seen.

After Saturday’s game, the Bulldogs' second-year coach Jeff Lebby was asked about Taylor and his future role in goal line situations.

“There will be some form of that just like there was, obviously, today,” Lebby said. “We will see how that thing grows and see whatever he can handle and be able to go add to that. For him on those first two carries and the first down and then went and scored, which again was frustrating. But we will see how much he can handle on that.”

Lebby, when asked again about Taylor said, “Like we talked about a second ago, he’s going to have a chance to do some stuff for us, situationally. It all depends on how much he can handle to see where that thing goes.”

The results Saturday were positive, holding penalty excluded. But let’s pump the brakes on the Taylor hype train.

We saw a true freshman run two plays, specifically designed for him to be successful. That’s far from enough evidence to warrant any discussion of any kind about Taylor replacing Blake Shapen as the Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.