Dak Prescott began his 2014 season and a potential Heisman campaign with a bang, throwing for 284 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-0 romp of Southern Miss Saturday night.

The junior set personal bests for yards and touchdowns in a single game, showing glimpses of the dazzling play that garnered him national attention by the end of last season.

Prescott torched the Golden Eagles for most of the night, but at times his performance looked far from pretty. Let’s take a look at the best and worst of the MSU starting quarterback from last week:

Let’s start with the bad and end with the good. It’s tough to say what Dak was thinking on this throw. He never looked at another receiver on the play, as is noted in the video, and pretty much hits defensive back Kalan Reed right in the facemask.

It appears the receiver on the play, Fred Brown, is looking either for a jump ball in the back corner of the end zone or a back-shoulder fade along the sideline. Prescott’s throw is neither of those things. If it was a miscommunication between Prescott and Brown it would be understandable; most opening weekend games are filled with sloppy plays as players work out nerves and knock off rust.

If Prescott was trying to throw to the back-shoulder an simply missed his target, the same rust and nerves could be cited as the cause. He throws a flat ball that Reed is easily able to undercut, using his body to shield Brown from breaking up the interception.

Prescott’s greatest fault on the play is the way he stares Brown down. Reed’s task of undercutting the route is made much easier in knowing the ball would end up before it was thrown. The junior signal caller must show more savvy in the pocket against SEC defenses in order to take advantage of his large receiving corps., especially in the red zone.

However, Prescott more than made up for his mistake with four touchdown passes, including the one featured in the video to tight end Malcolm Johnson.

Mullen said in the preseason he would use Johnson as a matchup nightmare, and he got his wish with a defensive back, Jomez Applewhite, lined up across from his tight end. It is clear Applewhite is not strong in stopping the run, as a simple play-action fake to tailback Josh Robinson freezes him, during which time Johnson takes off down the hash marks.

Prescott sees him right away and puts impeccable touch on his throw, fitting it in to Johnson just past Applewhite, who is caught with his head turned. Had he lofted his throw higher in the air, it would have given the other two Golden Eagles defenders in the vicinity time to make a play.

Instead it is a perfect throw, hitting Johnson in stride for a touchdown just before halftime. Throws like that to complement a strong rushing attack with both Prescott and Robinson could give the Bulldogs another dimension on offense, making them tough to stop.