The “15” on the back of the jersey is the same. As are the offense they run and the coach who leads them. Even the bulging muscles that don’t match the traditional shape of a quarterback gives flashbacks.
No, Dak Prescott is not the second coming of Tim Tebow, but it’s hard to ignore where the Venn diagrams intersect.
The Mississippi State quarterback surged into the Heisman race on Saturday, leading his Bulldogs to a stunning, bracket-busting victory over No. 6 Texas A&M, 48-31 in Starkville, Miss. It was more than a win, or a rout, or a coming-out party.
It was “a Mississippi State-ment,” Prescott told reporters afterward.
That State-ment was more about the “how” than the “what.” Mississippi State dominated in all facets. Kenny Hill and the high-powered Aggies offense never truly shifted out of neutral, as the Bulldogs — well, Prescott — put on a show.
The Aggies had no shot. When they tried to minimize Prescott’s mobility, the aerial attack he unleashed was lethal. When they adjusted and swarmed Mississippi State receivers, Prescott’s churning, toned legs made Tebow proud.
The quarterback from Haughton, La., ran for 77 yards and three touchdowns. He passed for 259 yards and two scores. Prescott reimagined an offense that Tebow ran so effectively five years earlier at Florida, each engineered by Dan Mullen.
“He’s going to get a lot more [Heisman] attention now with his performance,” said Mullen, the Bulldogs coach and former offensive coordinator of Tebow’s Gators teams. “But as I’ve told everyone, that’s what we expect from him.”
Tebow, the polarizing, passionate, favorite ex-player of every believer, was even on hand to take in the performance. The 2007 Heisman winner, biceps intact, still odd to see in mufti, was working his new job with SEC Network.
“When you see No. 15, physical runner, can run and throw, it’s so easy [to compare],” Mullen said.
The off-the-field stuff, the facets that make even Tebow detractors soften their hearts? “He has all of those [intangibles], too,” Mullen said.
And now Prescott has Mississippi State in the College Football Playoff picture, and his own name among the select few in the Heisman watch. If this is the Second Coming, it’s a lot of fun to watch.