Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Dak Prescott: A Uniform History

The career of the most prolific player in Mississippi State history is coming to an end.  Dak Prescott has put Mississippi State on the map by leading the Bulldogs to a #1 ranking and 10-2 record in 2014.  Prescott began his career at Mississippi State by playing backup to Tyler Russell for 12 games in 2012.  He started 8 games in 2013 and played in 3 more.  2014 was Prescott's first full year, starting all 13 games for the Bulldogs.  This year, Dak started all 13 games, including the Belk Bowl at the end of the year.

During Dak's first two years, he wore the Ribbon-Stripe uniforms.  In 2014, the Ribbon-Stripe unis were worn sparingly, but the ever-popular DWS 100 unis eventually took their place.  A version of the DWS 100 unis returned full-time in 2015.  Dak ended his career having taken the field wearing 25 different combos at State.

What uniform combination best defines Prescott's time at Mississippi State?  In his career at Mississippi State, Dak has played in 47 games, posting a 31-16 record.  He has started 32 of those games, with an impressive 23-9 record.  The uniform combo that Dak has started in the most, as well as posted a perfect 6-0 record in, is the DWS 100 uniform from the 2014 season.  The three game winning streak over then top-10 teams LSU, Texas A&M, and Auburn put the Bulldogs on top of the polls and Prescott on top of the Heisman race.  The Bulldogs never lost in those uniforms- the three losses at the end of the year all came in (three different) white uniforms.

A full breakdown of all of the uniform combinations Prescott has worn can be seen below:
As you can see, 18 of the 25 combinations were only worn once by Prescott, with 7 being worn only as a backup; the maroon/gray combo was worn three times in 2015, and two other combinations were wore twice.  There are four combinations at the top that were worn more the others: the DWS 100 unis, the Shiny-Maroon-White ribbon-stripe unis, the Shiny-Maroon-Maroon ribbon-stripe unis, and the Matte-White-White ribbon stripe-unis.

The past four years have seen a paradigm shift occur in the state of Mississippi State football.  Under the leadership of Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs posted a #1 ranking and have been consistently competitive in the ever-challenging SEC West.  As far as uniforms are concerned, the beginning of Dak's career coincided with the revelation of the Adidas-designed ribbon-stripe uniforms.  Throughout his career, special Egg Bowl uniforms were worn every year, as were other various alternate uniforms, some better than others.  The DWS 100 throwbacks that were introduced at the start of the 2014 season were cemented as the regular uniforms thanks in large part to the many wins Dak and his team posted in them.  In 2015, the DWS 100 base design has been carried over as the permanent design, with 10 different combinations popping up throughout the season.

The result of all these changes is 25 different uniforms by which we can remember the player who has been arguably the best in Mississippi State history.  Thank you, Dak, for all you've done.

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