Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott has led the Bulldogs past No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn, the first team since Auburn in 1983 to defeat AP top-10 teams in three consecutive games.The Mississippi State Bulldogs ascended to the top of the college football world Sunday afternoon for the first time in program history, getting tabbed No. 1 in The Associated Press poll and the Amway coaches' poll. The Bulldogs, who went 7-6 last year and began this season unranked, improved to 6-0 with Saturday's 38-23 victory over Auburn before a record crowd of 62,945 at Davis Wade Stadium.
Mississippi State's last three victories have come at the expense of No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 Auburn, making the Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 SEC) the first team since Auburn in 1983 to defeat AP top-10 teams in three consecutive games.
"We're halfway through the season and right where we want to be as a program," Mullen said Saturday night, "but I told the team that they don't give out a trophy for mid-term grades. There is no trophy for the halfway point, and we're at the halfway point. Our focus right now is to get better this week and then worry about Kentucky.
"That sounds like coach talk, but we haven't even guaranteed ourselves a winning record yet. I'm proud of what we accomplished the first half of the season, but we have a lot more goals."
The Bulldogs had never been ranked higher than No. 7 in the AP poll until whipping Texas A&M 48-31 on Oct. 4. That catapulted Mississippi State from No. 12 to No. 3, which set up Saturday's highest-rated matchup in state history with Auburn's visit.
Mullen was asked Saturday night if he thought his Bulldogs should be No. 1.
"I'd say we're 6-0," he said. "That's why you play an entire season, and they've got a playoff now to determine all that stuff. The rankings are cool, but it's really irrelevant. Who's going to love it? Our fan base. I think they will love all that stuff, but it doesn't say all that much.
"If we are, I'll be happy, and I'll think it's the coolest thing in the world, but I'm still going to be at work tomorrow grading this film."
Mississippi State took over the top spot from defending national champion Florida State, which won 38-20 at Syracuse. Rounding out the top five in both polls are Ole Miss, Baylor and Notre Dame.
Ole Miss looked every bit as strong as its state rival Saturday night, silencing more than 110,000 fans at Kyle Field with a 35-20 drubbing of Texas A&M. The Rebels (6-0, 3-0) led the Aggies 21-0 at halftime and 35-7 early in the fourth quarter.
Had the Rebels been dominant on CBS instead of Mississippi State and not on a late-night ESPN telecast, perhaps they would be No. 2 or even No. 1. Regardless, Hugh Freeze's talented squad showed no hangover whatsoever from the previous week's 23-17 upset of Alabama.
"I never had a doubt," Freeze said early Sunday morning in a news conference. "You guys all week talked about that, but I felt like our team -- this didn't just happen this week. We've been here two-and-a-half years, and we've been preaching the same qualities to these kids. Something special is happening with our kids, and I don't mean just on the field.
"There are really good things happening off the field that are getting overshadowed because the way our society works and everybody getting judged by the scoreboard. I really never had a doubt, and if we had gotten beat, it would have been because Texas A&M beat us."
Mississippi State and Auburn, which dropped to No. 6 in the AP poll, are off this week, while Ole Miss hosts Tennessee. This week's big matchup of SEC West teams is No. 21 Texas A&M visiting No. 7 Alabama.
Texas A&M handed the Crimson Tide the only loss of their 2012 national championship season inside Bryant-Denny Stadium and need another road upset this week to stay alive in the division. Alabama's chances in the West would be dented with a setback as well, with the Crimson Tide having been fortunate to escape Arkansas this past weekend with a 14-13 win.
Alabama lost two fumbles on punt returns but dodged the Razorbacks, who missed an extra point and fumbled through the end zone. Neither team rushed for 90 yards.
"We had a lot more energy and enthusiasm out there today than we did last week," Saban said Saturday night in his news conference. "That's what won the game. We played a lot harder in this game, and we competed well. The players really wanted to win the game, and I was proud of that.
"I never saw that spark at Ole Miss. When we were ahead, we played too much like a team that was trying to keep from getting beat rather than being aggressive."
Saturday marked the 100th game as Alabama's coach for Saban, who improved to 84-16. The only other Crimson Tide coaches to reach 100 games were Bear Bryant (287) and Frank Thomas (146).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.