SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 30, 2014
Mississippi State 49, Southern Mississippi 0: Dak Prescott passed for career highs of 284 yards and four touchdowns as the host Bulldogs cruised to an easy victory.
De'Runnya Wilson and Fred Ross each caught two touchdown passes and Malcolm Johnson had one for Mississippi State (1-0), which finished with 550 yards in total offense and 30 first downs. Prescott completed 18-of-26 passes and departed midway through the third quarter after connecting with Wilson on a 24-yard touchdown pass that made it 35-0.
Nick Mullens went 20-of-42 for 212 yards but was intercepted twice for Southern Mississippi (0-1), which lost for the 24th time in its last 25 games. The Golden Eagles' best chance at scoring came midway into the third quarter, when it drove to the Bulldogs 13 before Evan Sobiesk's field-goal attempt was blocked and returned 68 yards for a touchdown by Jay Hughes.
Prescott had three touchdown passes in the first half as the Bulldogs built a 28-0 halftime lead. Mississippi State had 387 yards in total offense and 21 first downs by intermission.
The Bulldogs upped the lead to 35-0 on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Wilson with 10:52 left in the third quarter. Sophomore Damien Williams took over for Prescott after that and completed 5-of-8 passes for 65 yards, including a 21-yard TD toss to Ross midway through the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: This was the first meeting between the schools, who are just 181 miles apart, since 1990. ... Mississippi State has won 12 straight nonconference home games. ... Southern Mississippi, which committed 38 turnovers in 2013 and finished minus-19 in turnover ratio, had three on Saturday.