Mullen discusses Towles and Prescott

By: LARRY VAUGHT

Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen doesn’t need anyone to tell him about Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles.

“I saw it live and in person last year because he lit us up last year. He had I imagine it’s still the best day of his career against us last year, so I got to see it live and in person,” Mullen said. “He’s a guy that plays with an awful lot of confidence and swagger out there on the field and not just the talent to make things happen, but he’s also got that emotional leadership and that charge. He’s a fiery guy and really you see the team rally around behind him.”

Mullen, who said the Bulldogs will not have anyone miss Saturday night’s game due to injury, knows the UK defense will bring different pressure packages on quarterback Dak Prescott.

“When you’re looking at that, they’re going to bring it, kind of disguise things from different sides of the field. They’re playing a lot of almost two D-linemen and four linebackers and five DBs,” Mullen said Wednesday on the SEC coaches’ teleconference. “So if you look at that, they’ve got a lot of speed and athleticism coming from different angles coming at you on the field.

“And they’ve done a good job adding some size and some length. They’ve got some big, long corners that can cover and have an opportunity to match up against because we like to play with some bigger receivers and they can match up against those guys.”

Prescott certainly will test that defense. He became only the third SEC quarterback ever to throw for 50 touchdowns and run for 30.

“Our offense puts guys in a position to do those types of things. We are an offense that highlights the strengths of quarterbacks. If you are going to play quarterback at Mississippi State, you are going to have the opportunity to be a special player, to get a lot of accolades, and other things because we do put a lot on our quarterback within our system,” Mullen said. “A lot of that is on Dak with his development, his growth, and what he has been able to do because it’s not easy to do.

“That is a lot of touchdowns that he is responsible for on the field. If you talk to him I’m sure he will be very humble about it. He has thrown over 50 touchdown passes but someone had to catch them. He’s responsible for 90 total. That’s a lot. Someone had to throw it to him. People had to block for him. He had to throw it and someone had to catch it. It’s a lot for the team but a lot of it is on him and the success we have had offensively because of his growth and playmaking ability.”

Mullen says Prescott’s experience has made him more comfortable and patient in the pocket.

“He knows our offense. He knows where our outlet receivers are and he’s very comfortable when routes are coming open. And when you have that experience, he gets to spend a lot of his time prepping on defense. So he knows against certain coverages, certain looks where he wants to go with the ball, what his options, his first, his third read are, and also getting us in the right protection,” Mullen said. “I think all of those things, that comfort level on the field allows him to be a lot more relaxed in the pocket because he knows — he’s comfortable with the clock in his head and he knows where he’s going with ball when that clock starts to run out.”

Kentucky defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot says Prescott has “proven himself” in SEC play and improved each year.

“He’s calm in the pocket, he makes good throws, he makes good decisions. He’s a big back. He’s hard to bring down. He’s their leading rusher. Quite a challenge for us,” Eliot said.

Even though Prescott is not running as much this year, he is still State’s leading rusher.

“He still is carrying the majority of their plays. They don’t have as many rush attempts overall. One reason is, I think he’s passing it very well. He is really become an effective passer. He’s calm in the pocket, he makes right decisions and he makes good throws.” Eliot said.

He also has yet to throw an interception this season.

“We’ve had our opportunities (to make interceptions) and we haven’t been able to pull them in. We’ve got to make those plays. And yes, I think there is motivation to play against Dak Prescott. He’s such a great quarterback that when we have success I think that’ll be a good accomplishment,” Eliot said.