On the verge of his second season, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is the NFL’s newest star and already one of the faces of the league.

The reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year completed 67.8 percent of his passes, assembled a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 23-to-4 and paced America’s Team to a 13-3 mark along the way in 2016. He was also selected to the Pro Bowl.

It was quite a meteoric rise considering the fact that he was only a fourth-round draft pick and supposed to serve a one- or two-year apprenticeship behind Tony Romo. But once the four-time Pro Bowler got sidelined due to injury, Prescott took over and put together one of the best campaigns in history for a first-year signal caller.

However, there has been fallout at his beloved alma mater, Mississippi State. Prescott’s successor, Nick Fitzgerald, now must live up to what is an impossible standard.

While in a Bulldogs uniform from 2012-15, Prescott was a 62.8-percent passer with a TD-to-INT ratio of 70-to-23, plus he added 2,521 yards rushing and 41 additional scores. If that wasn’t enough, three of his four career receptions resulted in six points.

Furthermore, Prescott’s individual stats paved the way to unprecedented team success. MSU started 9-0 in 2014 and went from unranked to No. 1 in the nation for the first time ever. With consecutive triumphs over LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn, all of which were in the Top 10 at the time, the people of Starkville had never seen anything like it.

Fitzgerald, conversely, got benched twice early in 2016 and was lucky to beat Miami of Ohio in the lowly St. Petersburg Bowl the last time we saw him play.

That’s not to say the 6-foot-5, 230-pounder didn’t perform well, though. Fitzgerald hit on 54.3 percent of his passes with 21 touchdowns and 10 picks, highlighted by a 417-yard outing with 5 TDs vs. an overmatched Samford squad.

Prescott had nine total 100-yard rushing performances in a 'Dogs uniform and never had more than 139 in a single outing.

On the other hand, he struggled mightily throwing the ball when facing big-time SEC defenses. LSU, Auburn and Alabama were the only ranked foes he faced, all of them divisional rivals, and Fitzgerald averaged just 148.7 yards passing. He found his target a mere 42.9 percent of the time, which isn’t going to get it done in the West.

The year before, Prescott battled then-No. 16 LSU, then-No. 1 Alabama and then-No. 10 Ole Miss and averaged 296.3 yards at a 63.5-percent clip.

In all fairness, Fitzgerald might already be a more effective runner than Prescott ever was. He carried the ball 195 times for 1,375 yards — that’s an average of 7.1 per attempt — and 17 scores, and eight times he eclipsed the 100-yard plateau.

Unlike his comparatively ineffective passing prowess, Fitzgerald inflicted some serious damage on the ground vs. conference competition. He ran for 195 yards on South Carolina, 107 on Kentucky, 182 on Texas A&M, 131 on Arkansas and 258 on Ole Miss. While none of the aforementioned programs defended the rush particularly well, those raw numbers are no less impressive.

Prescott had nine total 100-yard rushing performances for the ‘Dogs and never had more than 139 in a single game.

Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports

That being said, because coach Dan Mullen (above) worked wonders with his protégé’s right arm, Prescott eventually didn’t have to rely on his legs so much. He ran it a stunning 210 times as a junior, although that figure dipped to 160 as a senior.

His first year or two in the system, Prescott was your typical collegiate spread-option QB. A lot of his throws were predetermined at the line of scrimmage. When he was asked to read a defense, quite often there was only one or two options and half the field to consider. The aerial attack wasn’t overly sophisticated, which was the norm in such a system.

But his final season, Prescott was making more of the NFL-type reads and throws you tend to see at the next level.

Fitzgerald is the most intriguing player in the SEC for 2017. Mullen will no doubt make him better. How much better is the real question.

Mullen deserves much of the credit for Prescott’s polished game. After all, he helped turn Tim Tebow — four franchises gave up on him quickly after seeing his talents up close — into a Heisman Trophy winner and two-time national champion.

Can he do it yet again? Remember, Prescott was largely ignored on the recruiting trail. Not a lot of schools saw him as a field general, with LSU in particular asking the Pelican State native to switch positions. He was big, but not a monster. He had a strong arm, but not a cannon. He was fast, but not a burner. Mullen turned him into a legend anyway.

Fitzgerald’s story is somewhat similar. Mullen didn’t have to beat out Ole Miss for the Georgia product’s services, just UT-Chattanooga.

He’s bigger than Prescott, and Fitzgerald has already proven that he can take his share of punishment. He can generate more than enough RPMs, although accuracy is his issue, not arm strength. His wheels are beyond sufficient, too.

Still, he has light years to go if he wants to mirror Prescott as a passer. Yes, the Mississippi State receiving corps was partially to blame a season ago for dropping too many potential completions. But there’s something to be said for throwing a catchable ball, and Fitzgerald hasn’t mastered that elusive skill.

We don’t know if Mullen can pull another rabbit out of his hat. Asking Fitzgerald to be Prescott 2.0 — or Tebow 3.0 — isn’t even fair, if we’re being honest.

If he does, then the Bulldogs can be scary in the West. Fortunately, we probably won’t have to wait long to get our answer. Fitzgerald and Co. host LSU in Week 3 and then travel to Georgia and Auburn, respectively, in Weeks 4 and 5.

Before the calendar even flips to October, we’ll have a pretty good idea if Fitzgerald is on his way to being Prescott-like in Mullen’s scheme. If he is, then he’ll be staying in the pocket and looking for his third and fourth option with regularity. If he isn’t, then he’ll be scrambling too often and continuing to put himself in harm’s way.

Fitzgerald is the most intriguing player in the SEC for 2017. Mullen will no doubt make him better. How much better is the real question.