Dak Prescott is facing expectations no other Mississippi State football star has ever had to face, but such is the life of a Heisman Trophy contender.

Prescott led Mississippi State to an easy 45-16 win over UT Martin in Week 11, yet still didn’t do enough to pad his ongoing Heisman campaign as the race to win college football’s most prestigious award tightens in the final month of the season.

The Bulldogs’ star quarterback completed 14 of 23 passes (61 percent) for 206 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 54 yards and another touchdown in the victory over the Skyhawks. Normally, 260 total yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters of football would indicate a dazzling performance. For Prescott, those numbers indicate an underwhelming outing against Mississippi State’s lone FCS foe of the season.

His 206 passing yards were his second-lowest total of the season, as were his 54 yards on the ground. Those were the numbers he posted against Mississippi State’s weakest opponent of the season. Let’s just say that’s not how one wins a Heisman Trophy.

Prescott knew he wouldn’t play a full game against an overmatched opponent (he didn’t even finish the third quarter), and that certainly limited his numbers to some extent. But it wasn’t the first time he’d been pulled from a game early with his team leading comfortably, and in those other instances he still managed to light the college football world on fire with huge numbers and incredible displays of talent and athleticism.

Prescott escaped on one 48-yard touchdown run in the second quarter against UTM, but otherwise had a pretty standard day at the office. Unfortunately, standard doesn’t win Heisman Trophies.

Prescott has been “standard” for about three weeks now. He posted at least 345 total yards and three touchdowns in three straight wins over LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn earlier this season, but in his last three games he’s only reached the 345-yard mark once, and that came in MSU’s lowest scoring output of the season against Arkansas (a 17-10 win).

During Prescott’s troubling three-week stretch (troubling is a relative term), Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota looked anything but standard. He posted three consecutive games with at least 340 yards and five touchdowns, and now has more passing yards, more passing touchdowns, fewer interceptions, a better quarterback rating and a better yards per rush average than Prescott this season.

Prescott’s most recent showing couldn’t even outdo Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles, who threw for 377 yards, rushed for 30 more and scored two touchdowns in his first career start against the same UTM team in Week 1 this season. Not only has Prescott begun to fall behind Mariota in the Heisman race, but his numbers are starting to fall short of those posted by the mid-tier quarterbacks in the conference his team has dominated this year.

The junior did shatter Mississippi State’s single season record for total offense with 3,044 yards in just nine games (the previous record was 2,892 yards, set by Tyler Russell in 2012). However, setting a Mississippi State record is not a worthy line item on a Heisman resume. After all, there’s a reason Mississippi State has never claimed a Heisman winner in the 79-year history of the award.

Prescott is not competing against the ghosts of Mississippi State football. He’s competing against Mariota, and right now Mariota is passing him on the Heisman leaderboard. Prescott’s primary advantage is his collection of signature wins over LSU (at night in Death Valley) and Auburn, while Mariota has one win over a top 20 team (Michigan State) as well as one loss to a ranked opponent (Utah).

Prescott still has plenty of potential Heisman moments ahead of him, especially in Saturday’s showdown with Alabama. Oregon won’t play another ranked opponent until the PAC 12 championship game; Prescott will have played two more top 10 teams by then.

We can’t predict the future or anticipate what either player will do the rest of the season. What we can do is analyze the past. Prescott once had a stranglehold on the Heisman race, but he now sits in second place. He missed a golden opportunity to beef up his stats against UT Martin, and now must shine on a big stage against a dangerous Alabama team familiar with big stages.

Prescott’s numbers have remained above-average, and his team remains undefeated. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But remember, no Bulldog has ever faced expectations like Prescott will face the rest of the year.

How he handles those expectations may determine who hoists the Heisman Trophy in New York City this December.