The competition for the Arkansas Razorbacks' starting quarterback job in Chad Morris' first season as the team's head coach continues to be tight between Ty Storey and Cole Kelley.
Storey and Kelley -- splitting reps with the first- and second-team offenses -- each passed for 126 yards in Saturday's Red-White game at War Memorial Stadium. Each passed for one touchdown -- to tight end Cheyenne O'Grady.
Storey and Kelley also were sacked two times apiece. Neither threw an interception.
Kelley completed 52.6 percent of his passes (10 of 19) to 50 percent (7 of 14) for Storey.
"Both of them are spinning it pretty good," said wide receiver La'Michael Pettway, who caught four passes from Kelley and two from Storey. "That battle is great to watch."
Morris had said he won't name a starting quarterback until next fall.
Kelley, a redshirt sophomore, started four games last season when Austin Allen was sidelined by a shoulder injury, but Storey has closed the gap between them this spring.
Storey, a redshirt junior from Charleston, took the first snaps Saturday.
"When you're the first guy out there, that's awesome," Storey said. "But that's just how it was. I've just got to keep getting better and improve off of today."
Morris said after the game he knows everyone wants to talk about the quarterbacks.
"I thought it was kind of what we've seen all spring," he said. "We saw some good. We saw some bad. Saw some plays that should have been made. I saw some really good throws."
Morris said at times Storey and Kelley have tried to do too much, which is natural for players competing for a starting job.
"They want to be perfect every play, and it just can't happen," Morris said. "The way we talk to our guys is just operate within the system. The system has answers. Understand what your answers are and get to it."
Storey and Kelley each seemed pleased with his play overall.
"I thought I did some good things," Kelley said. "I obviously did some things I need to correct, but I thought I did pretty well."
Kelley lamented an overthrow of wide receiver Mike Woods on what would have been a touchdown pass.
"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight because it was six and I missed it," Kelley said. "I let the wind get ahold of it."
Storey also overthrew Woods on what would have been a touchdown.
"I thought it was an all right day," Storey said. "It would have been nice to finish more of those drives, but we were very basic on offense.
"We've been competing for a while now. Just another day. We're hoping to just keep stacking good days on good days and we'll see what happens."
Before the game, Storey was among the players recognized for being the most consistent this spring. Storey said the players, who were lined up and introduced to the crowd, didn't know they were going to be honored.
"I've just got to keep working," Storey said. "I think all of us would say the same thing. We've just got to keep working and try to make this pace go and get on top of things."
Morris said Storey has played well throughout the spring.
"I've been pleased with the progress Ty's made," Morris said. "I think Ty really started the spring real strong. He felt comfortable in the system and understood what was going on. And he's trying to operate within it.
"Cole has really come on over the last six practices. I thought he did some good things today. So we've got a really good competition going there."
Storey was asked whether he felt like he created any separation in the quarterback competition.
"I don't know," he said. "That's not really my question to answer. I'm just trying to play a little football and have some fun with it. We had a lot of fun today."
Sports on 04/08/2018