By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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Leadership, for Dak Prescott, is his best trait. It’s a role he appreciates and respects.

What makes Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott so difficult to defend is his versatility. Five games in, the junior signal caller has 1,223 passing yards, 13 passing touchdowns, 455 rushing yards and six more rushing scores. Prescott can make throws to all parts of the field and, with the size of a defensive end, run his way right down it. In Saturday’s 48-31 victory over Texas A&M, Prescott did just that, adding an 11-yard reception for good measure.

At 6’2”, 230 pounds, Prescott is as physically-gifted of a player as you will find in all of college football. His biggest muscle, thinking back to last season’s Egg Bowl, might be his heart. With the Mississippi State offense struggling, head coach Dan Mullen turned to Prescott, fighting a shoulder injury and a wounded spirit, in the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs’ most important game of the season. Battered and bruised, Prescott responded; his three-yard touchdown dive in overtime proved to be the difference as Mississippi State won a key rivalry bout and clinched bowl eligibility.

This season has been one of headlines and hype for the Louisiana-native. Prescott has scored multiple touchdowns in every game so far and, after this weekend, is a leading national name. Given what was on the line against the Aggies, his most recent game might have been his best. Playing in the program’s most high-profile home game in years, Prescott completed 19-of-25 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns, adding 77 yards and three more scores on the ground.

cHe played like he has played all year, like one of the best players in the country. We weren’t able to match that as a team,” Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin explained.

In two consecutive games against top ten teams, LSU and now the Aggies, Prescott has paced the Bulldogs to 1,129 total yards, 82 total points and two wins.

On both sides of the football, Mississippi State responds to Prescott’s energy and emotion. The Bulldogs follow his charge. Prescott is the personification of a program built on persistence. As he goes, so go the maroon and white.

The scene is one Prescott watched, and one Mullen was a part of, just a few short years ago at Florida. There, Mullen was the offensive coordinator while Tim Tebow was the quarterback of the Gators. Tebow, who was recently introduced to Prescott, won two national championships, two conference titles, was a three-time All-American, a two-time Maxwell Award winner and claimed the 2007 Heisman Trophy. Above all else, he set the tone for his football team.

“I actually asked to wear number 15 when I first came here because of Tebow, and it was an honor to get to meet him yesterday,” Prescott stated. “Our games are kind of similar, but I’m a different player and I have my own type of game. But I still want to mimic him in some ways.”

Prescott, both on and off the field, is a warrior. It’s a mentality that he learned from his mother Peggy, who died of colon cancer last fall. Mom remains son’s inspiration in more ways than one. While she was undergoing chemotherapy and losing her hair, Dak stood by her side by shaving his. Today, he honors her legacy with his passion, toughness and by loving what he does.

Dak, mere weeks after his mother’s passing, played for her late last season. With his brothers in blood and his brothers in battle supporting his every move, Dak, with faith, fought through unfathomable adversity to get out on the football field. Entering the regular season finale against Ole Miss, the consensus was that, due to injury, Mississippi State’s quarterback simply would not be available.

“He came in today and said, ‘I’ve never seen it before. It must be a miraculous recovery’,” MSU head coach Dan Mullen recalled of a gameday conversation with a team doctor. “He was getting updates and reports. He said it must be a miracle. He said he was going to clear him to go play in the game.”

Despite a nerve injury in his non-throwing arm, Prescott came off the bench to complete 11-of-20 passes and run for 29 yards and the game-winning score. He rallied his teammates through, just as they rallied around him.

“I turned to him in the fourth quarter and asked if he wanted to go. He said, ‘put me in’,” Mullen continued. “It’s hard to imagine there was no divine intervention out there on that field today. I asked the team before the game to dedicate the game to somebody and write a letter why they dedicated it to that person. You can ask him who he dedicated his performance to out there.”

Through Dak and his brothers Tade and Jace, Peggy Prescott lives on. Mom is Dak’s motivation. In some ways, she is Mississippi State’s as well.

As this year has unfolded, so, too, have the opportunities for Prescott and the Bulldogs. Individually, Prescott is now a leading Heisman Trophy candidate. He leads the SEC and ranks sixth nationally with a passer rating of 180.69. Prescott also ranks in the top eight in the league in rushing. In all, the Louisiana-native has 19 total touchdowns. He just scored five of them in week six, with teams raising awareness for breast cancer.

“He is going to get more attention now with his performance, but that is what we expect from him,” Mullen nodded. “In order to keep winning, he is going to have to keep playing at a very, very high level.”

The Bulldogs are up to as high as third in the national polls and received two first place votes, the first time in program history that they have earned such a distinction. This is the highest-ranked Mississippi State football has ever been. The stage couldn’t be bigger as, this Saturday, with 2014 BCS National Championship Game participant Auburn coming to town, will be the biggest matchup ever in Starkville. Also at 5-0, the Tigers are ranked second in the country.

Not only are league implications at stake, potential positioning for the college football playoff is on the line.

“Getting two SEC wins is not our goal, and we want to get more,” Mullen acknowledged. “We get the opportunity with the defending conference champions here next week. Dak and everybody have to be completely locked in and we have to play our best game to get a win.”

Even as the backdrop changes, the makeup of this team won’t. The Bulldogs are fearless and resilient, persistent and steadfast. They are winning, in part, because they believe.

Leadership, for Prescott, is his best trait. It’s a role and responsibility he appreciates and respects. Running and throwing, Prescott moves the football. On and off the field, he also moves people. Mississippi State’s star quarterback is one of the most dynamic players in the game. The only thing more impressive than what Prescott does for the Bulldogs, is what he means to those by his side.

*Learn more about Huddle Up For Life, a non-profit in Peggy Prescott’s memory.