Bonner: Prescott displays his all-purpose ability

MOBILE – As the final seconds rolled off the clock, Dak Prescott walked off the sidelines and onto the field.

The quarterback migrated toward midfield for the postgame handshakes with 25 seconds remaining until Mississippi State's 35-3 win over South Alabama became official. Official or not, his teammates followed him.

The postgame sportsmanship cemented MSU's third win of the season in which Prescott developed a rhythm from taking every offensive snap until the fourth quarter.

In six days, his teammates will follow him on the road again for the Southeastern Conference opener against LSU, and the stakes will be raised.

"We're going from preseason to SEC ball. Everything has to improve," Prescott said. "I have to be a better leader out there and just make sure we're going from the first snap to the last snap."

Mississippi State rotated through quarterbacks during the first two weeks of the season. Backup Damian Williams saw action in the first quarter against Southern Miss and UAB.

MSU coach Dan Mullen suggested the swapping would continue this week. When the game started that notion ended. The only action Williams saw came with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a 35-3 game.

Prescott might as well have led the handshake line at that point.

He jogged off the field after a 16-yard run to pick up a first down on third-and-11. He had 139 yards rushing to go with 201 yards passing and a 24-yard touchdown reception.

"You always have to defend him on the field out there," Mullen said. "He had some scrambles in other situations that really kept the drives alive for us outside the framework of the offense."

Prescott helped Mississippi State convert on six third downs in the first half – four with his legs. MSU scored two touchdowns as a result of Prescott extending the drive.

The junior fixed a broken play during his last score. He dropped back on a pass with 7:27 left in the third quarter. After scanning the defense, he pulled the ball down and ran 40 yards for his third touchdown of the game.

"Getting those three quarters, getting in a rhythm and the timing of the game, after three quarters the defense starts to slow down," Prescott said. "Things become more open and a little easier."

Saturday was the first time this season Mississippi State didn't score a touchdown on its opening drive. The Bulldogs began the game with back-to-back three-and-outs. The third series led to a seven-play drive covering 80 yards.

"We came out and sort of stepped on our toes a little bit," Prescott said. "…But then we got it going and put some points on the board."

Including its first touchdown drive, Mississippi State found the end zone on five of its next nine drives.

It only punted once during that time. Two drives ended with fumbles; another ended at the half.

Both fumbles occurred in South Alabama territory and cost Mississippi State points. Ashton Shumpert lost the ball on USA's 36-yard line in the first quarter. Josh Robinson lost his on the South Alabama 4-yard line in the third.

"Turnovers will kill you," Mullen said. "… They can't happen. They just can't happen."

Prescott didn't turn the ball over on 14 carries and 21 pass attempts. He finished with 13 completions, but he also had three passes go through defenders' hands.

"Some of them I was just trying to put the throw in there real quick," Prescott said. "I maybe could have pump faked and gone over the top with it. I was forcing throw there. Going into the SEC, I've gotta realize I can't make those throws."

The purpose of MSU's first three games was to get ready for the slate of SEC games. It begins Saturday in a place Mississippi State hasn't won since 1991.

The Bulldogs are 3-0. They piled up 500 yards or more in all three games. They've outscored teams 131-37. Prescott has 12 touchdowns.

The production came against two teams that were 2-23 a season ago and a program that began in 2009.

It allows for some to be dismissive of the numbers. The same production next week will draw a different reaction.

"We were taking it week-by-week, and we got LSU just like we wanted to be — 3-0 with some momentum going in," Prescott said. "We're excited to go into LSU and show what we got."

Contact Michael Bonner at (601) 961-7289 or mbonner@gannett.com. Follow @MikeBBonner on Twitter.

Key Player

Dak Prescott, Mississippi State

The quarterback rushed, passed and caught a touchdown for the second time in his career. He passed for more than 200 yards and rushed for more than 100.

Key Figure

3

Mississippi State's defense allowed three points after surrendering 34 the week before.