For Mississippi State fans, are all eyes are on the quarterback competition during fall practices.

Keytaon Thompson enters his junior season after being Nick Fitzgerald’s backup. After MSU’s spring practice, Tommy Stevens announced that he would be heading to Starkville as a graduate transfer to reunite with Moorhead, his former Penn State offensive coordinator. Obviously, Thompson has more experience as a Bulldog, but Stevens has more familiarity with the playbook than your average transfer.

Eight days into camp, the two quarterbacks are still battling for the starting signal-caller job. Second-year coach Joe Moorhead told reporters Saturday that the two are progressing at an expected pace.

“I think it’s progressing nicely,” Moorhead said during his Media Day press conference on Saturday. “I think the battle has elevated the urgency and execution of the entire unit. We grade and evaluate every snap. I think it’s about the pace that we anticipated.”

Many coaches look to scrimmage performances to see if a player can separate himself from the competition. Moorhead indicated that scrimmage performances will be taken into account, but they likely won’t decide who gets the first snap in Week 1.

“I think the scrimmage performance plays a role (in determining starter) but not necessarily the only measuring stick,” Moorhead said. “It’s completion percentage. … How the team is rallying around you. The scrimmage will play a big part, but it’s the whole body. They’ve both shown they can run effectively, and it’s going to come down to which of the two can throw the ball the best.”