A year ago, Mississippi State quarterback was on everybody’s short list for the Heisman Trophy as the Bulldogs rolled to a 9-0 start and the No. 1 national ranking.
This year, Prescott’s name is seldom, if ever, mentioned in the Heisman conversation. Early losses to LSU and Texas A&M quickly put the Bulldogs — and Prescott — out of most spotlight.
Yet, for those who have been paying attention, Prescott is a better player, and a far better quarterback, this year.
Saturday night was a reminder of just what a rare talent he is.
Prescott threw three touchdowns, ran for three more, and accounted for 465 of the Bulldogs’ 586 yards in a 42-16 victory against Kentucky at Davis Wade Stadium. Those numbers included his first 100-yard rushing game of the season, the one point of contention for Bulldog fans who remember last season when Prescott’s legs were as lethal, and more reliable, than his right arm.
His six touchdowns tied one of the few MSU records Prescott hasn’t already gobbled up — matching Jackie Parker, who turned the trick against Auburn in 1952.
Every game, it seems, Prescott is etching his name onto some list.
With Saturday’s performance, he became just the third Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback in the last 15 years to throw for at least 348 yards, to rush for 100, and to have three passing and three rushing touchdowns, joining Johnny Manziel and Tajh Boyd in that rare company.
Prescott probably also ran past the most-loved quarterback in MSU history, too. Prescott’s 2,302 career rushing yards eclipsed the previous record held by the free-wheeling, fun-loving, run-first-run-second-pass-only-if-you-have-to John Bond. There are only two quarterbacks in SEC history to have run for more yards than Prescott — Tim Tebow and Matt Jones.
You can get carpal tunnel just writing down all his records, at this point. He owns 26 school records. I didn’t even know there WERE 26 school records to break.
Obviously, he’s a great player, inarguably the best quarterback in MSU history, and by a wide — and getting wider — margin.
He’s not perfect, though.
In the second quarter, Prescott trying to hit Donald Gray on a deep ball, suffered his first interception of the season, and his first interception since the Orange Bowl, a streak of 288 passes.
He managed to get over it, of course, as did the Bulldogs, who are still something of a mystery.
Saturday’s game was probably the team’s best overall effort. The defense, predictably porous early, improved as the game went on. Kentucky might have managed 423 yards, but the Bulldogs were tough when it mattered, holding the Wildcats to one touchdown, picking off three passes, and holding their own.
Offensively, MSU ran for 204 yards, its best rushing performance of the season.
But this team is clearly built on Prescott’s talent and will go as far as he carries/throws them.
As of Saturday, that’s another bowl game. At 6-2 entering its bye week, MSU is bowl eligible for the sixth-consecutive season, another — dare we mention it — record.
In eight games, Prescott has thrown for 2,048 yards on 173-of-260 passing (.665 completion rate) and 14 touchdowns and has rushed for 371 yards and seven more scores.
For all that, MSU fans probably don’t realize just how good Prescott is, or what he has meant to the program.
The Bulldogs aren’t without flaws. Dak covereth a multitude of sins, as it says in the Good Book.
Someday, we’ll realize what he has meant to the program.
That someday probably will come next fall, when someone else will wear that No. 15 jersey.
There’s no Heisman in Prescott’s future, but you can’t blame Prescott for that.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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