Dak Prescott reminisces on hosting Jalen Hurts at Mississippi State

The Dallas Cowboys host Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Friday reminisced on the first time he met Hurts.

Prescott, a former Mississippi State quarterback, hosted Hurts on his official visit to Mississippi State while he was still a high school recruit out of Channelview, Texas. Unfortunately for Prescott and the Bulldogs, the four-star recruit would ultimately commit to Alabama. But it wasn’t all that surprising to Prescott.

“Just the fact that I knew he wasn’t coming to Mississippi State,” Prescott said, when asked what he remembered about Hurts’ visit to Starkville, Mississippi. “I think he was talking about Alabama already. He’s a good guy. We had some fun. We had a good time.”

Hurts enrolled at Alabama in 2016, the same year that Prescott was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He became the first freshman to start at quarterback in the Nick Saban era at Alabama, and he quickly burst onto the scene, winning both SEC Offensive Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year. That year, Hurts held a completion percentage just shy of 63 percent, throwing for 2,780 yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Hurts also was a threat on the ground, as he ran for 954 yards and 13 touchdowns on 191 carries. Alabama won the Peach Bowl but lost in the national championship game to Clemson.

After two years as the Crimson Tide’s starter, Hurts was replaced by Tua Tagovailoa after halftime in the 2017 national championship game, where Alabama battled back for a comeback victory. Hurts did not start another game for the Tide, but become a hero as a reliable backup in 2018. He later transferred to Oklahoma for his final year of eligibility in 2019, a season in which he tallied 3,851 passing yards — completing an impressive 69.7 percent of his passes — along with 32 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Prescott was a two-time first team All-SEC selection at Mississippi State, but it took some waiting to get there. Prescott redshirted his true freshman season in 2011, then served as a backup in 2012. In 2013, he began as the backup once again — but after an injury to starting quarterback Tyler Russell, Prescott took over as starter and never ceded the job, going onto win the 2013 Liberty Bowl in his first year as starter and being named MVP.

In four seasons at Mississippi State, Prescott amassed 9,376 passing yards while completing roughly 63 percent of his passing attempts, and he threw for 70 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.