Another SEC quarterback competition is in the books.

On Thursday, Joe Moorhead announced that Penn State transfer Tommy Stevens won Mississippi State’s quarterback job. Stevens beat out Keytaon Thompson during fall camp.

Moorhead explained how Stevens won the job Thursday afternoon while visiting with the media.

“It was a great great competition. Both guys are similarly sized and provide equal threats in the run game,” Moorhead said. “We said the decision-making was going to come down to who could make explosive plays, who could minimize turnovers and who could throw the ball with the best accuracy on a consistent manner.

“Tommy jumped out of the gates strong at the beginning of camp closing into the first scrimmage. KT (Thompson) kind of closed the gap and had a real nice first scrimmage. From that point forward, Tommy created separation and continued to do that towards the tail-end of camp.”

Moorhead was looking for the quarterback who could attack teams downfield, and Stevens did that better in fall camp.

That’s not to say, however, that Thompson won’t be crucial in some aspect. Whenever teams have mobile quarterbacks, the risk of injury becomes greater; therefore, it’s important for backups to be ready. Thompson has experience and will be ready.

In three-career seasons at Penn State, Stevens threw for 506 yards and eight touchdowns.