Marvin Gentry, USA TODAY SPORTS
The Mississippi State Bulldogs got healthy on Saturday, thumping Alcorn State 51-7 while allowing some of their injured players to heal while sitting on the bench.
Most notable was the change at quarterback, where senior signal caller Tyler Russell was held out of the game after suffering a concussion in last week’s loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. In Russell’s absence, sophomore Dak Prescott played well, throwing for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the blowout victory.
In this case, Dan Mullen and his team proved to be a winner in more ways than one. First of all, the Bulldogs were able to bounce back after a tough loss to a top-25 opponent last weekend. Perhaps more importantly, Prescott was able to get more game experience, which could be crucial for the Bulldogs later in the season if Russell is injured again.
And Prescott was able to get the offense going in this game. In last week’s loss, Mississippi State managed only three points. In this contest, MSU had 37 points at the half.
MSU was also missing senior running back LaDarius Perkins, one of the school’s all-time leading rushers. However, Ashton Shumpert was able to rush for 98 yards and a pair of scores, while Nick Griffin had 54 yards rushing and a touchdown.
It’s always good to have depth, especially at key positions like quarterback and running back. In Saturday’s win, Mullen was able to get some new players experience at those important positions, and that could pay dividends later this season.
