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Wallace vs. Prescott: Two Great QBs in the Magnolia State
With this college football season featuring a new playoff era for the national championship, the SEC continues to prove its dominance across the board. Currently a lot of that dominance is courtesy of the Magnolia State.
Both Ole Miss and Mississippi State are 5-0 — both ranked No. 3 in the nation according to the Associated Press poll.
Both teams look to the stellar play from their respective quarterbacks — Bo Wallace at Ole Miss and Dak Prescott at Mississippi State.
Wallace enters his third season as the Rebel starter and understands Coach Hugh Freeze’s play book masterfully.
Over the past two seasons, Wallace has had to take it easy in spring practice and fall camp overcoming pain in his arm and shoulder. This season brought a new lease on life for the likable QB. Wallace has participated in all the drills and his arm and shoulder have been their healthiest since he stepped foot on the Ole Miss campus.
So far in 2014, Wallace leads the Rebels with precision and athleticism — thus far to a perfect season, compiling 1,522 yards passing with a total of 14 touchdowns on 6 interceptions. His completion percentage on the year is 68.5 percent with a passing efficiency rating of 168.5.
Wallace has also put his body on the line rushing for a a total of 39 yards on the season. His clutch leadership this season has secured wins in very big games.
Even though Wallace has six interceptions, three of them came in the first half of the Boise State game, one against Louisiana-Lafayette and two against Memphis.
Against Alabama, Wallace looked poised and confident waiting for some second-half heroics to engineer a thrilling comeback in the 23-17 victory.
Down in Starkville, MSU Coach Dan Mullen has another No. 15 at quarterback. Dak Prescott really does seem to resemble Tim Tebow on the field, with his amazing combination of passing and running ability as he pushes forward in his Heisman candidacy.
Prescott engineered key drives last season in Bulldogs victories over Arkansas and Ole Miss, sending MSU to the Autozone Liberty Bowl against Rice, where they picked off the Owls by the score of 44-17.
This season Prescott has picked up where he left off orchestrating drives through the air and on the ground.
Prescott has thrown the ball 78 times this season for 1,232 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has only been intercepted twice all season. When the Bulldogs welcome in the Auburn Tigers on Saturday, Prescott will take the field with a 180.6 passing efficiency rating.
These kind of staggering numbers in the passing game are complemented by the Bulldog’s quarterback on the ground, where he has gained 513 yards on 85 carries, crossing the goal line six times.
These two QB’s are the focus points of both teams’ successes this season. They are both destined to go down in the history books as two of the most successful quarterbacks in school history. If the Bulldogs and Rebels remain undefeated throughout the rest of their schedule leading to the Egg Bowl, it will make for an electric show inside the Vaught when they tangle on November 29 potentially for the SEC West division crown.
—Adam Brown, sports editor of HottyToddy.com