Head coach Dan Mullen will be charged with one of his toughest decisions yet at MSU: who will start as quarterback when the Bulldogs take the field against LSU Saturday?
Following the last home win against Troy, Mullen said he leaned toward starting the veteran Tyler Russell in favor of sophomore Dak Prescott. 
“Tyler (Russell) is our starting quarterback. We plan on Tyler being the starter against LSU moving forward,” Mullen said. 
Not many can blame him for that decision. Russell was the first big-time in-state commit Mullen reined in when he first came to Starkville. Russell is a fifth-year senior, and he started a few games in 2011 and every game in 2012. Russell was the undoubted starter heading into this season before getting a concussion in the season opener against Oklahoma State.
Since the injury, Dak Prescott has taken the team and the MSU fan base by storm. In just three career starts, Dak has gone from back-up quarterback to what seems like a viable starter in the SEC and improves each and every game. 
Last season, the roles of the two quarterbacks were very simple. Russell was the starter, while Prescott would enter the game in short-yardage situations — only to typically run the ball. Russell was the better passer and Prescott the better rusher.
But what do the numbers say? Russell started at quarterback every single game last season. Prescott has only started in three games this season, so his sample size is significantly smaller. Since both only played about a half of the dismal OSU game, we will eliminate statistics from that game in any of their overall statistics.
Completion percentage: Last season, Russell completed just under 59 percent of his passes for the season. That is not an awful percentage, but it was only good enough to rank No. 10 in the SEC. In Prescott’s three starts this season, he has connected on just a tad over 59 percent. Edge: Even. Both players complete about the same amount of their passes thus far. While their completion percentage is about the same, neither is quite impressive when compared to other numbers from the SEC.
Passing yards per game: In the run-heavy SEC, Russell was higher on the list when it came to passing yards per game. Russell was seventh last season in this category with 223 yards per game. Prescott averages 208 yards per game. Edge: Russell. Russell averaged more passing yards last season than Prescott has in his starts. Russell is also in the dead middle of the pack when compared to the  rest of the SEC, which is not great, but still a positive.
Rushing threat: Russell will never be mistaken for a scary running threat. His statistics back this. Russell ran for a whopping negative five yards and two touchdowns last season. Those are not great stats, but honestly Russell hardly tries to run the ball and is much more comfortable in the pocket. Prescott, on the other hand, is very comfortable tucking the ball. In his three starts, Prescott has run for a total of 206 yards and has five rushing touchdowns. Prescott, in only three games, has more rushing touchdowns than any other quarterback in the SEC and has only 30 less total yards than last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel. Edge: Prescott. Prescott ran for 133 of those yards and two of those touchdowns in his only full game, against Auburn. From a statistical quarterback standpoint, rushing is the only stat that makes MSU stand out. This is important because Mullen’s option offense works best with a running threat at quarterback. The read option out of the spread only works when the quarterback can run. This option play carved up Auburn’s defense, and the Bulldogs were in position to win late before a defensive breakdown. 
Russell will start Saturday against LSU. Mullen will have to decide how long he will stick with the senior if he struggles early, or if he plays well, how many snaps Prescott will take throughout the game. If the team continues to struggle and the coaching staff begins to look toward the future, does Prescott begin to be phased into the offense more and more? Mullen gets paid millions of dollars to make those decisions. But if he takes a look at the statistics, then he will see Russell and Prescott are a bit more even as passers than people really think. Prescott is a much better runner and can command the offense in a way Russell never really could. Of course, Prescott’s statistics are a tad skewed because he has only played one full game and two other games against inferior opponents. However, he improves  with each game. Worse opponents or not, the offense has looked as good as it ever has in Mullen’s tenure at MSU.