STARKVILLE — Dak Prescott continues to be a mystery for the Mississippi State University football program. Even to Dak Prescott himself.
“I really don’t have a role yet,” the Bulldogs backup quarterback said. “I’m just trying to push the starter like any backup would be and get each other better.”
That starter is junior Tyler Russell as the Parade All-American continues to take the snaps with the first-team offense and will be counted on to lead the Bulldogs offense in the 2012 season.
“Tyler started a couple games and will come out here with confidence,” MSU coach Dan Mullen said on March 23. “He’s been doing this awhile so he knows what he’s doing. I don’t see a guy that going to put a lot of pressure on himself to perform at a high level.”
Prescott, a redshirt freshman quarterback from Louisiana, is simply trying to learn the spread-option system under Mullen. When asked if he’s learning specific packages being developed right now for his running skills and strength at nearly 230 pounds despite coming to campus under 200 pounds in his first fall session, Prescott denied any complexities in his development. “I’ll leave that to coaches Mullen and (offensive coordinator Les) Koenning but right now it’s the basic offense and all I’m doing is getting in that playbook,” Prescott said.
Prescott was a highly recruited quarterback from the Louisiana prep ranks after being selected first-team all-state by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in his senior season of high school.
Prescott was rated one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation and decided to enroll in school during the spring of 2011 in order to be ready to take on this role in the 2012 season.
“I knew a lot more than I did last year apparently,” Prescott said with a laugh. “All of our receivers from the freshman to the seniors are doing great this spring and we’re just trying to find out who can help us the most this spring. That’s what I found out spring ball is all about last year.”
MSU will hold another scrimmage this morning at 11 a.m. to test the redshirt freshman with his reads and footwork in a live situation.
“I got one scrimmage in but it’s a different mindset when you’re going into that (scrimmage) and all I want to do is lead this team,” Prescott said.
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