Miss. St. QB Will Rogers Breaks 2 Dak Prescott records In 55-10 Win Over Tennessee St.; Aggies Pummel Prairie View 52-3
Bring on the Egg Bowl.
No. 25 Mississippi State won its fourth game of its last five, and quarterback Will Rogers broke two records held by Dak Prescott as he threw for 391 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-10 win over Prairie View Saturday afternoon in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Bulldogs (7-4, 4-3 SEC) play at No. 12 Ole Miss at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday night on ESPN in the Egg Bowl. The Rebels (8-2, 4-2 SEC) were to host Vanderbilt Saturday night.
"We're a different team than we were at the beginning of the season," State coach Mike Leach said.
Mississippi State lost to Memphis and LSU in September before upsetting Texas A&M on the road on Oct. 2 The Bulldogs are 5-2 since that game.
Rogers completed 28 of 34 passes for 391 yards and five touchdowns. Rogers' 21-yard touchdown to Austin Williams in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead gave him 30 touchdown passes on the season, breaking the school record of 29 set in 2015 by Prescott - the Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
Later in the first quarter, Rogers passed Prescott's school record career passing mark of 3,793 yards set from 2012-15. A sophomore, Rogers came in with 3,722 yards in just his first season as the full-time starter. He is at 4,113 yards now and 34 touchdown passes.
"To have my name in the same sentence as Dak is amazing," Rogers said.
Rogers threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Malik Heath for a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter and hit Makai Polk on a 50-yard touchdown for a 42-0 lead at the 9:10 mark of the third quarter. Polk led State in receiving with nine catches for 110 yards.
The Bulldogs totaled 600 yards to 205 for Tennessee State (5-6), which is coached by former NFL star running back Eddie George, who won the Heisman Trophy at Ohio State in 1995.
Rogers could have thrown for more, but Leach replaced him in the fourth quarter with senior Chance Lovertich, who completed 8 of 12 passes for 102 yards.
TEXAS A&M 52, PRAIRIE VIEW 3
In another early game, No. 16 Texas A&M dominated Prairie View, 52-3, in College Station, Texas. Quarterback Zach Calzada completed 10 of 14 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
Tailback Isaiah Spiller gained 70 yards on nine carries for the Aggies (8-3, 4-3 SEC), who close the regular season at LSU on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).
Aggies' coach Jimbo Fisher said after the game that wide receiver Demond Demas is out for the season with a leg injury. Demas, who did not play Saturday, had 15 catches in 10 games this season for 235 yards and a touchdown.
Texas A&M had 24 first downs and 447 yards to nine and 154 for Prairie View (7-3).
"This place changed me," A&M senior safety Leon O'Neal said after his last game at Kyle Field. "I love Texas A&M with all my heart. These fans love you unconditionally."