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Prescott: One more possession and we beat Alabama last year
The Mississippi State Bulldogs shocked many last season on their way to reaching the number one ranking in the nation, but they quickly learned holding onto the ranking was the truly difficult part.
As the pressure of the season began to mount, the Bulldogs found themselves in one tight game after another as they beat Kentucky by only 14 at home, which included a late touchdown to make a tight game appear not so, and a seven-point victory over an Arkansas team which had lost 16 SEC games in a row to that point.
In the next SEC game, the Bulldogs started tight and found themselves down 19-0 in the second quarter against Alabama before composing themselves and outscoring the Tide 20-6 the remainder of the game.
According to AL.com, the Bulldogs' quarterback believes his team had the Tide on the ropes.
"Losing by five right there at the end of the game," Dak Prescott said at SEC Media Days. "Another minute or another drive on offense and I think we win that game."
It sounds like his coach has similar thoughts on the game.
"The biggest memory for me is falling behind 19-0, and our guys ― all of a sudden the guys kind of getting together, and we came back and scored before the half," Dan Mullen said. "But then talking at halftime that we weren't playing our style of game, we weren't doing what we've done. We came out and kind of controlled the second half. They put together that one great drive in the fourth quarter to get a score."
While many continue to overlook the Bulldogs heading into the season, they were predicted to finish last in the West by the SEC media last week, the team could easily find themselves once again battling Alabama for a spot in the College Football Playoff this season.
The team will likely start the season ranked, and considering their SEC schedule, they could climb the ladder once again by running the table. However, if it happens for the second season in a row, expect this Bulldog team to be better equiped to handle the pressure that comes with the national spotlight.
(h/t AL.com)
