FAYETTEVILLE — The competition to back up senior quarterback Austin Allen is still ongoing with a little more than a week of spring ball left.
Neither sophomore Ty Storey or redshirt freshman Cole Kelley have been able to separate themselves from the other with 3 practices remaining before the April 29 spring game.
"They're battling," offensive coordinator Dan Enos said. "It's been good. It's been nip-and-tuck. One of them hasn't really grabbed the reins and taken it."
Enos said both players are getting the same amount of snaps.
Storey was Allen's backup a year ago and played in 3 games, including entering the Auburn loss when Allen injured his knee. The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder was otherwise relegated to mop-up duty, finishing the year 1 of 4 for 3 yards while being sacked twice. Kelley redshirted last year, but routinely drew praise from Enos and Bielema.
Through 2 scrimmages, Storey is unofficially 14 of 24 for 153 yards, while Kelley is 9 of 18 for 135 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
The 6-foot-7, 258-pound Kelley is more imposing physically and possesses a stronger arm than Storey, but has also been more up-and-down. He's rifled impressive passes down the field, but also been careless with the ball and at times struggled to get rid of it before the play is blown dead as a result of a pass rusher closing in.
Storey started the first scrimmage 2 of 8, but finished by completing his final 5 passes. He has at times struggled with his accuracy, but looked comfortable in the pocket in the second scrimmage.
It's a race that may not end until fall camp in August.
"They've both done really good and they've both made some mistakes where they've stepped back and evened each other out," Enos said. "But Ty's playing at a high level. Cole's playing at a high level. ... Competition makes everybody better. They're pushing each other. It's a healthy competition."