Back in 2011, Les Miles bided his time before going after Dak Prescott.

Hailing from Haughton, La. — situated northwest of Baton Rouge near the Texas border — Prescott had already committed to Mississippi State and was set to enroll early. Miles waited until the buzzer, in the last month before Prescott was going to arrive in Starkville, before truly putting on a press.

Miles originally wanted Prescott as a tight end, but Prescott’s solid showing and LSU’s relative lack of quarterback talent at the time helped sway him. He even reportedly turned his recruiting to Prescott’s mom after he offered up a scholarship.

Prescott, who had been committed to MSU since early in his senior year, decided to stick with the commitment. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now, Prescott is heading into his senior year as the SEC’s top (Bull)dog at quarterback, the reigning first-team all-conference player and a contender for national awards.

What would have happened if Miles had been able to sway Prescott at the last minute and get him to join his home-state Tigers?

1. Zach Mettenberger may not end up at LSU

For argument’s sake, we’ll say that if Prescott flipped to LSU he would have done so quickly after receiving his offer; for what it’s worth, Prescott comes across as a thoughtful guy who would have put some thought into it, but we’re dealing in hypotheticals here. Well, just a few days after Miles gave Prescott his offer, former Georgia quarterback and junior college transfer Zach Mettenberger committed to LSU. If LSU had gotten a commitment from Prescott, a three-star dual-threat QB, it might not have had a need for Mettenberger, especially with Stephen Rivers also in the class.

As a more minor point, Rivers might have played out his career at LSU if he was competing with a classmate in Prescott instead of an experienced player in Mettenberger. I say minor because Rivers never threw a pass for the Tigers and didn’t pan out at Vanderbilt, either.

2. With no Mettenberger, there’s no Cam Cameron

LSU went through some shakeup at offensive coordinator heading into the 2011 season. Steve Kragthorpe was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and stepped down as OC, handing the duties to Greg Sturdawa. LSU’s offense put up decent numbers but never seemed fully in sync, trying to fit Mettenberger in as starter in 2012 after he backed up Jordan Jefferson and Jarrett Lee in 2011. While Mettenberger wasn’t the sole reason Cameron got the job, Miles surely looked around saw that he would fit LSU’s personnel in the short term after the 2012 season.

3. LSU’s 2013 offense isn’t as prolific

The Tigers had a ton of talent in 2013 even without Mettenberger, but the senior was the big-armed pocket passer to pull it all together. Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry were dueling 1,000-yard receivers, while Jeremy Hill and Alfred Blue helped form a potent backfield behind an excellent offensive line.

Without Mettenberger there, LSU would have had some shaky options: Rivers, Prescott or a freshman Anthony Jennings. With all of that talent, someone would have ended up looking better than they maybe were, but keep in mind that Prescott only completed 58 percent of his passes for MSU in 2013 and wasn’t a full-time starter, playing behind Tyler Russell as the senior battled injury.

However, if we’re still assuming no Cameron, LSU might have hired an offensive coordinator more in the vein of Dan Mullen, running a spread, no-huddle attack that would take advantage of LSU’s athleticism.

4. Dan Mullen likely loses his job at the end of 2013

Toward the end of the season in 2013, there were serious questions about Mullen’s job security. The Bulldogs had regressed from the 8-5 regular season record they’d achieved the year before and entered the 2013 Egg Bowl at 5-6. Drop that game to Ole Miss and Mullen might be out the door at the end of his fifth season.

Mullen turned to Prescott late in that Egg Bowl even though he’d missed the previous two games with a shoulder injury, and the redshirt sophomore delivered. He came into the game in the fourth quarter, leading MSU to a game-tying field goal late. Then, in overtime, he punched in the game-winning touchdown with his legs.

The Bulldogs salvaged a .500 regular season with the win over Ole Miss, then blew away Rice in their bowl game (led by Prescott, of course). Without that win over the Rebels, there is no bowl game. Without making a bowl game, there might’ve been no Mullen in 2014.

5. LSU’s 2014 offense is much better

While not all things are equal — Mississippi State has a coach in Mullen who has made his money turning dual-threat quarterbacks into stars, but both the Tigers and the Bulldogs do an excellent job with talent development — we’ll assume that Prescott continued his trajectory of development as he did in the real world. LSU only completed 50 percent of its passes last year; Prescott was better than 61 percent throwing as he destroyed the SEC in 2014. Prescott would have opened up even more running lanes for Leonard Fournette and company, and the zone-read that LSU incorporated to great effect toward the end of the season would have already been the structure in place for a successful offense.

Prescott was already a Heisman candidate in 2014, but on LSU he rivals Marcus Mariota as a front-runner for the award. If Prescott had beaten Alabama (and then won the SEC West) with MSU last year, there’s a good chance he’s a finalist. With Prescott, LSU is likely able to reverse it’s overtime loss to the Tide, and they’re certainly able to pull out the tight win over Ole Miss. With those signature wins, Prescott would likely be in New York.

6. Mississippi State’s 10-win season doesn’t happen

The Bulldogs would have been just as loaded with talented veterans in 2014 (although some may have transferred with Mullen’s firing and a new head coach), but Prescott and Mullen were what made the offense hum. Without those two, you’re probably looking at a team more like Arkansas: one that can hang around thanks to a tough defense, but not much more than that.

Damian Williams is a talented backup, but there’s no telling if he would have been ready to take the team to the level it reached in 2014. The Bulldogs might have had to thrust Nick Fitzgerald onto the field as a freshman — that is, if they could have signed him without Mullen.

All of that means no 10-win season and no Orange Bowl appearance (the school’s first since the 1940s), no five weeks spent at No. 1, no national attention on the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs might not be a bottom feeder, but they’re certainly not in the College Football Playoff conversation without Dak.

That would also likely have an effect on another player’s bank account. Josh Robinson, a talented bowling ball of a running back, earned himself NFL draft status by rolling alongside Prescott for more than 1,000 yards in his first season as a starter. Would Robinson have had the same results as the primary rushing option in the offense?

Without that 10-win season, Mississippi State’s brand takes a big hit. The Bulldogs aren’t considered contenders in 2015, but everyone is talking about them, and that’s thanks to Prescott. MSU games will be ones that people tune into thanks to the quarterback, something the school doesn’t have if Prescott is at LSU.

7. The Tigers are 2015 national title favorites

Think about it. You put the SEC’s best quarterback on one of the most talented rosters in the country and what else do you get other than championship contention? LSU is a quarterback away from contention now, and having an All-America and Heisman candidate in Prescott leading the offense would logically push them to to the forefront of the conversation.

CHECK OUT THE OTHER ARTICLES IN OUR “WHAT IF” SERIES