The decision is in from Starkville, Penn State graduate transfer Tommy Stevens will start the season as Mississippi State’s starting quarterback. Stevens beat out junior Keytaon Thompson for the starting position with a strong training camp performance.

Joe Moorhead officially announced the news on Thursday.

“I had the opportunity to meet with both guys earlier this afternoon and just informed the team, it was a great, great competition. We told both guys we inform the team Tommy Stevens has earned the right to be the starting quarterback for us this year and certainly are excited about what Keytaon did and how he performed and that he’s going to be an incredibly valuable asset for us and you know, we’re going to need him to win a game for us this year.”

Stevens has only one season of eligibility after transferring into Mississippi State as a graduate transfer. While he may be the newcomer of the two, Stevens had spent a year playing for Moorhead at Penn State.

When asked about how Thompson took the news, Moorhead offered up this comment:

“I won’t say he took it well, that’s not what I want to infer but he understands the process… He’s only one play away from getting into the game, he can’t prep like a backup.”

In two seasons on the field at Penn State, Steven threw for 304 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. He rushed for another 506 yards and eight scores. In his two seasons in Starkville, Thompson has passed for 846 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.