At the end of the first quarter the outlook was bleak. Looking for an easy home game and a rest for the starters of the No. 1 college football team in the nation, the Mississippi State University Bulldogs faced the UT Martin Skyhawks, but were not able to pull into the lead in anywhere near as spectacular a fashion as previous games would lead one to expect.  The team knew it was not the best performance, but they did enough to win the game by a comfortable margin. 
“We didn’t execute as clean as we wanted to that first half. We got the job done,” Dak  Prescott said.
The answer to the Bulldogs’ hiatus came with the Heisman candidate quarterback’s spectacular 48-yard rush touchdown on the very first play of the second quarter that brought the Bulldogs up to 14-3. Not only did that touchdown run change the complexion of the game, but it also broke the Bulldog’s all-time record for total yards in a season — in the ninth game, no less. This sudden burst of energy from a bootless Prescott helped to rescue the Bulldogs from their languor, set them on track to finish the game 45 – 16 and gave the starters a much-needed rest in the fourth quarter.
After the game, Head Coach Dan Mullen commented on what happened and why the Skyhawks posed such a strong threat in the first quarter and his response to the hard-earned victory.
“It’s always good to get a win. We played ok… give [UT Martin] credit, I know their kids are coming in to play hard… they are a very well-coached team,” Mullen said. “We’ve got to do a better job getting off the field on defense. They had more first downs than we did. We’ve got to do a better job on offense. We’ve got to start creating more turn-overs on defense. That’s another game we’ve lost the turnover ratio, and that’s a thing you can not do to win games.” 
This game saw the rise of several other names on the Bulldog offense, with sophomore running backs Brandon Holloway and Ashton Shumpert both making big plays, with a touchdown apiece and both running for more yards than the usual spotlight player, Josh Robinson.
Mullen commented on the removal of Robinson as well as other key players early, saying it was an effort to keep them healthy, looking forward to next week.
 “Josh said he was sore. He was cleared to play, but he said he was sore, so he didn’t go back in,” Mullen said. 
Regarding Jameon Lewis and Justin Malone’s absences, Mullen said they “made the decision at last week’s game… We shut him down for the week. We expect [Lewis] to be 100 percent when we get to practice this week. Justin Malone has got the sore foot so we did the same thing with him, shut him down all week and gave those guys a full week of rest to get healthy.”
Mullen also commented on the new development with the sophomore running backs making such a splash.
“Shumpt averaged 20 yards a carry, Holloway, 10. If I was a smart coach I would put them in more. I thought they did [stand up when called]. When a guy’s number is called he is ready to go perform, it doesn’t matter the situation,” he said.
 Regardless of the occasionally struggling defense or questionably floundering offense during the Bulldogs’ ninth game, they finished out and pulled off a convincing win against the Skyhawks. When it was all said and done Mullen said he was pleased with the win, the late season competition is why he is here.
“We’ll take it, we’re 9-0.We will enjoy this win tonight and get ready for a big game to go back into conference play tomorrow. [We have a] big-time game [against Alabama] this week. This is what you play for, you are going to be in the middle of November competing for first place in the SEC West, which is what it is all about to be competing that late in the season,” Mullen said.
 When asked about going to play at Alabama in Tuscaloosa next week, the rising star Brandon Holloway showed confidence in the tenacity of the Bulldog team.
“It is everything. We are going to have to come prepared to do work, come in every day to practice and try to get better,” Holloway said. “We know we are coming in as the underdog even though we are the No. 1 team. We just embrace it, we don’t take it too much being number one, because anyone could come and beat us.”
The Bulldogs learned valuable lessons about themselves as a team and as individual players, growing into a team that can hold the number one ranking with enough self-awareness not to loose it at the first sign of difficulty. This attitude of confidence and humility should serve them well as they look to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide on their home turf at Bryant-Denny Stadium next week.
The Bulldogs’ game plan will center around stopping Heisman candidate Amari Cooper. The Alabama wide receiver leads the SEC in almost every relevant receiving statistic. Cooper has caught 10 touchdowns and averages 135 receiving yards a game. MSU enters the game last in the SEC in stopping the pass, giving up 301 yards per game. The Bulldogs’ chances Saturday will hinge on the hope of limiting the big plays down the field to Cooper and the other wide receivers for the Crimson Tide.