Heisman Trophy on the Line for Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott vs. Alabama

Is Saturday's matchup between No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 5 Alabama an "elimination game"?

For Alabama, yes. For Mississippi State, it depends on how the game plays out and what happens around the country.

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This is, however, an elimination game for Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott's Heisman Trophy chances.

The dual-threat junior enters this game as one of the primary contenders for the award. He has completed 61.1 percent of his passes this year (146-of-239) for 2,231 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 779 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns.

He has the stage all to himself this weekend as Oregon and quarterback Marcus Mariota—the unquestioned No. 1 in Athlon's weekly expert poll and the top contender in Bleacher Report's weekly Saturday night Heisman video—is off this weekend.

Head coach Dan Mullen is confident Prescott won't be intimated by the big-game atmosphere in Tuscaloosa on Saturday.

During Monday's press conference, Mullen said:

"

I think his experience helps going into a hostile environment. That is always tough as a quarterback. I think he has been in that situation before. A couple of years ago he got in the game in Tuscaloosa. Now he has played in big games. He is going to walk on the field with confidence knowing that the situation is not going to be too big for him.

"

A strong performance against No. 5 Alabama—the top-ranked defense in the SEC (275.2 YPG)—would not only help Prescott stay in the Heisman race, but it could also help him jump back into the lead over Mariota and will certainly keep his team in the national title race during the home stretch. 

Player	Team	Comp. %	Pass Yds.	Pass TDs	INTs	Total Yards	Total TDs
Marcus Mariota	Oregon	67.1	2,780	29	2	3,304	38
Dak Prescott	Miss. St.	61.1	2,231	18	7	3,010	30
Jameis Winston	FSU	66.7	2,540	17	11	2,600	20
Trevone Boykin	TCU	58.0	2,691	23	4	3,237	30
J.T. Barrett	Ohio St.	64.4	2,156	26	7	2,738	34

If he fails on the big stage, it would give Alabama the inside track to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta and knock Mississippi State off the national pedestal for the time being. That'd be devastating to Prescott's Heisman hopes, especially considering next week's opponent—Vanderbilt—won't move the Heisman meter at all.

Simply put, the Heisman is on the line in the game versus Alabama. A game which, Mullen knows, is on Prescott's shoulders.

"In our style of offense, how we use our quarterback and what we put on our quarterback, if we are having success, a lot of it is going to be because our quarterback has played well," Mullen said on last week's conference call. "In our style of offense, that leads to a quarterback playing very well to get that national attention."

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Prescott is walking into the same building where former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel—also a dual-threat quarterback on a team that was one of the surprise stories of the season—lit up the Alabama defense with 253 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and 92 rushing yards in a 29-24 win.

As was the case when Manziel had his "Heisman moment" in Tuscaloosa, Prescott is catching the Tide fresh from Alabama's always-physical showdown with LSU in Baton Rouge—which, coincidentally, went down to the wire just like the 2012 edition.

Prescott poses a threat to run that Alabama's defense sometimes struggles with.

Those instances—including Manziel two years ago, Cam Newton (Auburn) in 2010, Jordan Jefferson (LSU) in 2010 and 2011, Trevor Knight (Oklahoma) in January and others—don't mean much to Mullen.

The coach said on Monday:

"

I would say struggle is a strong term. Struggling for them might be a great game for other people. There have been plenty of dual-threat quarterbacks that have gone in there, and they have contained them pretty well. I think, in our offense, we are going to need guys like Prescott and [running back Josh] Robinson to make plays.

"

Whether Mullen likes the term or not, this is still Prescott's team, this is still Prescott's stage and this is still Prescott's chance to make a major statement for his team and himself.

Buckle up.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.