Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott has led the Bulldogs past No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn, the first team since Auburn in 1983 to defeat AP top-10 teams in three consecutive games.The Mississippi State Bulldogs ascended to the top of the college football world Sunday afternoon for the first time in program history, getting tabbed No. 1 in The Associated Press poll and the Amway coaches’ poll. The Bulldogs, who went 7-6 last year and began this season unranked, improved to 6-0 with Saturday’s 38-23 victory over Auburn before a record crowd of 62,945 at Davis Wade Stadium.
Mississippi State’s last three victories have come at the expense of No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn, making the Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 SEC) the first team since Auburn in 1983 to defeat AP top-10 teams in three consecutive games.
“We’re halfway through the season and right where we want to be as a program,” Mullen said Saturday night, “but I told the team that they don’t give out a trophy for mid-term grades. There is no trophy for the halfway point, and we’re at the halfway point. Our focus right now is to get better this week and then worry about Kentucky.
“That sounds like coach talk, but we haven’t even guaranteed ourselves a winning record yet. I’m proud of what we accomplished the first half of the season, but we have a lot more goals.”
The Bulldogs had never been ranked higher than No. 7 in the AP poll until whipping Texas A&M 48-31 on Oct. 4. That catapulted Mississippi State from No. 12 to No. 3, which set up Saturday’s highest-rated matchup in state history with Auburn’s visit.