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Mississippi State had a tough finish to a hell of a season. The Bulldogs got beat by hated rival Ole Miss to close out the regular season, then got smashed by the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the Orange Bowl.
It was a pretty rough ending and not a very good momentum-builder for next year.
Dak Prescott accounted for four touchdowns in the loss to Georgia Tech, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs defense couldn’t stop the Yellow Jackets at all. Prescott completed 33-of-51 for 453 yards and three touchdowns, he also added 47 yards on the ground and another score.
I’m going to break down one of his better throws that occurred late in the fourth quarter.
The game was out of hand at this point, but I like that Mississippi State still didn’t pack it in and give up. Georgia Tech led 49-27 with only 2:47 left in the game.
The Bulldogs are in a three-by-one shotgun set. They have three receivers to the field and one lined up to the boundary along with the running back.
You’ll notice here that Tech is not scared of the vertical passing game at all because their deepest defender was 11 yards off the ball. This is a two-deep type coverage that can either be cover 2 or cover 4. As the play developed, the defense turned into a cover 3 look.
Mississippi State ran a simple curl-flat-streak concept here. You can see Prescott reading the field side all along, and he had a nice pocket to work in. He stepped up, but a Tech defender dove at his legs.
I can tell you guys, it’s not easy to make those throws when you have 300 pounders diving at your ankles and knees.
Prescott made a good read and threw a dart to the curl receiver. He used his eyes and head to open that window up and allowed his receiver to settle in the hole.
Often we see defenders bait the quarterback into throwing that curl and then jumping it. When the quarterback manipulates the defenders as Prescott did here, it’s very difficult to defend.
The season didn’t end the way coach Mullen, Prescott, and the Bulldogs faithful wanted, but they still had a very good season and will need a big offseason.
The Man. The Myth. The Legend.
