Why is the Mississippi State mascot a bulldog? Meet the school's newest mascot 'Dak' who attended Alabama vs. MS State in Week 5
The Mississippi State's mascot, Dak, continues to attend home games and recently appeared when the Bulldogs hosted the Crimson Tide in Week 5 of college football. Dak is the 22nd live mascot of the Bulldogs, who was given the inherited title, Bully XXII, in March this year.
Dak was named after a former Mississippi State Bulldogs football player and the Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott.
The history behind the Bulldogs' live mascot goes way back to 1935. Head coach, Major Ralph Sasse, brought a bulldog named 'Ptolemy' to inspire his team. Following his arrival at Mississippi State, the football team got the best out of the Army, one of the top football teams in the country. Since then the bulldog has taken over being the mascot of the Mississippi State University.
Ptolemy was then named Bully, as he'll go on to be known as Bully I. Each dog that served as the live mascot was given the title, Bully, alongside their original name. Bully VI had two versions back in 1947, Bully VI-A and Bully VI-B. Interestingly, Bully VI-A was dognapped by the opponent team, but still, the Bulldogs prevailed against Georgia Bulldogs.
Throughout the years there have been many live mascots who served Mississippi State, though none of them spent more time than Bully VIII from 1957-64. The current live mascot, Dak has just started to take over the duty of being the live mascot and mark his appearance in home games.
The mascot 'Dak' took over the previous live mascot, Cristil's Golden Prince, also known as 'Jak' who served from 2015 up until now. Dak is a two-year-old English Bulldog, and will likely serve the Bulldogs for a long period of time.
The Mississippi State Bulldogs are off to a rough start
After winning their first two games of the season, the Bulldogs have lost three straight games, facing the LSU Tigers, South Carolina Gamecocks, and recently, the Crimson Tide. Going up against Alabama, the Bulldogs were 2-2. Following their third loss, the Mississippi State Bulldogs sit at the bottom in the SEC West. The Crimson Tide took their fourth win themselves, as they went past the Bulldogs, 40-17 on the road.
Mississippi State's next game, against the Western Michigan Broncos, is scheduled for October 7th. The Mississippi State Bulldogs finished with a 9-4 record last year, whereas the squad has already faced three losses in the first five weeks. It will be interesting to see if Zach Arnett could lead the Bulldogs to a better record as they progress into Week 6 of college football.