Saturday Down South is chronicling Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott’s junior season as he pursues his chance to win this year’s Heisman Trophy. Prescott has led the Bulldogs to a 2-0 start to the season with wins over Southern Miss and UAB.

Dak Prescott has the Mississippi State offense clicking on all cylinders two weeks into the 2014 season. The Bulldogs have scored 96 points in two weeks, and their quarterback has been nothing short of spectacular in their first two games of the year.

Prescott set personal bests with 284 yards through the air and four touchdown passes against Southern Miss in Week 1. He followed-up that performance by throwing for 211 yards and four more touchdowns, and rushing for 111 yards and another touchdown on the ground against UAB.

He became just the third SEC quarterback in the last 18 years to throw for four touchdowns and rush for 100 yards in the same game, joining Johnny Manziel and Jay Cutler as the only signal callers to achieve the feat.

“His preparation is excellent. His in-game demeanor is excellent. His adjustments in-game have been very good,” Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen said of Prescott in his weekly press conference Monday.

Before the start of the season, the junior earned his way onto the watch lists for many of college football’s most recognizable awards, including the Davey O’Brien Award, given to the nation’s best quarterback each year, and the Maxwell Award, given to the nation’s best collegiate football player.

He was recognized as a Manning Award “Star of the Week” for his performance in MSU’s victory over UAB; the Manning Award is one of a handful of awards recognizing the nation’s best quarterback, but it is the only award that takes bowl game performances into consideration at the end of the season. Prescott earned a spot on the Manning Award watch list before the season as well.

Prescott has backed up the preseason hype surrounding him, even while rotating under center with Damian Williams at times during Mississippi State’s first two games. Prescott is tied for first in the nation with eight touchdown passes through two games, and is ranked eighth nationally with a quarterback rating of 184.3. He is currently on-pace to throw for more than 2,900 yards and 48 touchdowns, all while rushing for more than 800 yards for the second year in a row.

However, Prescott has yet to face a defense from a power conference in 2014, and his coach knows he still has room to improve if he hopes to collect postseason awards and lead Mississippi State to a 10-win season.

“I think we missed a couple throws Saturday. There are a couple things we could have done better with completions,” Mullen said. “(The Blazers) were running a lot of funky blitzes, and several times they left guys completely uncovered. That’s one of the hardest things for a quarterback, it doesn’t compute.”

Mullen explained Prescott must diagnose a defense’s weaknesses quickly at the line of scrimmage or early in a particular play in order to attack those weaknesses. In the head coach’s eyes, Mullen could have posted even grander numbers in his first two games had he recognized those defensive flaws quicker.

“I think with a couple of throws, we could be consistent that way and take advantage of those mistakes on defense,” Mullen said.

Mississippi State will take on South Alabama Saturday afternoon in its first true road contest since last November, and Prescott will have plenty of opportunities to pad his stats before closing the season with eight SEC contests in MSU’s final nine games.