POLL: How Much Should Dak Play Against UT Martin?

The Mississippi State Bulldogs are off to their first 8-0 start since the 1999 season. On November 15, the Bulldogs will travel to Tuscaloosa to play in what many will argue is the most important game ever for the Mississippi State football team. A win in Tuscaloosa would come as close as possible to clinching a spot in the first ever College Football Playoff, even though there would still be two games left.

Before that can take place, Mississippi State has a game this weekend with UT-Martin. The Skyhawks are an FCS school that is currently 5-5 overall and 4-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Skyhawks are a mediocre team by FCS levels, and the number 1 team in the country should be able to run anyone on their roster out on the field and handle them easily.

With that being said, many Mississippi State fans are wondering how little, or if at all, should Dak Prescott play in the game this Saturday? Dak took a number of big hits in the game against Kentucky, and he was clearly hobbled in the game against Arkansas. There was a level of tentativeness that he played with against the Razorbacks that has not been evident at any other point this season. If we can win the game without the services of Dak Prescott and let him use this week to heal and get to 100%, should we do it? Our editor weighed in on this topic last night, and he believes that the Bulldogs should sit Dak for the entire game and let Damian Williams play the entire time.

There are pretty clear arguments both for and against this approach. If we sit him the entire game, Dak gets the opportunity to rest, and it allows Damian Williams to get some much needed playing time. The last game he appeared in was the South Alabama game in September. The argument against it is that it is clearly looking past the current opponent, and if he doesn’t play at all, will he still be sharp going into the game against Alabama?

As long as everything goes according to plan, Williams will be put in the game. How early would normally depend on how quickly we can build a big lead. This time it might depend on how much we need to rest our Heisman Trophy contender.

So, that is our poll question this week. How much do you think Dak Prescott should play against the UT Martin Skyhawks? Vote in our poll to let us know what you think. We would also love for you to tell us the reasoning for voting the way you did in the comments section.