MADISON, Wis. -- It would be natural for Bart Houston to press, to worry about making his last season in a Wisconsin football uniform count. He will be a fifth-year senior this fall, the self-professed "oldest guy in the room," and yet he has never once been seriously considered for the Badgers' starting quarterback role despite all of his potential.

But to expect Houston to be swallowed by anxiety or fear is to not know Houston at all. Instead, the low-key California native insists the two-man quarterback competition this spring between he and redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook won't cause any undue pressure.

"I'm just going out here trying to make myself better each and every day," Houston said after Tuesday's practice. "Obviously there's a competition because Coach [Paul] Chryst hasn't named a guy. But I'm just worried about competing within myself, being a better Bart every practice, every day."

The approach might sound cliché, but Houston is used to the rigors and requirements of being a college quarterback. And if ever there was a year for him to remain upbeat and even-keeled, this is it because the opportunity to start finally is in full focus.

Bart Houston is the only quarterback on Wisconsin's roster to have thrown a pass in a college game. Nati Harnik/AP Photo

There are only two healthy scholarship quarterbacks for spring practice, and Houston would appear to have the upper hand based strictly on experience. He has appeared in 15 career games, and he filled in admirably for an injured Joel Stave against Illinois last season. Houston completed 22 of 33 passes for 232 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions to help Wisconsin to a 24-13 victory. He then showed his cool, confident persona during a humorous postgame interview with the school's athletics department.

"One game helps," Houston said Tuesday. "I don't know how much it helps because I still made a couple mistakes. I had my successes and my failures, but now I've got to test it to see if I learned from those successes and failures. One game, you can't really say, 'Oh, he's got experience.' But I guess I have a little bit."

In his career, Houston has completed 29 of 51 passes (56.8 percent) for 295 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Hornibrook has never thrown a pass in a college game, nor has any other quarterback on the roster. Kare' Lyles, a freshman early enrollee this spring, won't practice at all because of a left hip injury. The only other quarterback in camp is walk-on Bobby Dunn, who made the team via tryouts.

"One thing guys fight for is reps, and they're going to get a ton of reps," Chryst said of Houston and Hornibrook. "What they do with those reps is really the key to it. But I think it's a good situation for them, and I think they both can use the work."

Houston arrived as one of the most decorated prep quarterbacks in Wisconsin program history. At De La Salle High School in California, his teams went 38-1 with him as a starter and won three state championships. He was invited to the same ESPN Elite 11 quarterback camp as Jameis Winston, and Badgers fans held high expectations for his college career.

But Houston has watched three different quarterback competitions from the periphery as a backup. He took a redshirt year in 2012 while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. In 2013, Houston was the third-string quarterback behind Stave and Curt Phillips. During spring practice in 2014, then-Badgers coach Gary Andersen said Houston was "not in the fight" and lagged behind Stave and Tanner McEvoy. Last spring, Chryst named Stave the starter on the first day of practice.

Many players with similar high school accolades would have considered a transfer long ago. Houston, however, maintained he had no interest in making such a move because he loved the school. Now, his loyalty could pay dividends.

After two practices in which the team has yet to don pads, it's difficult to discern much of anything. But the most noticeable difference between the right-handed Houston and the lefty Hornibrook appears to be velocity. Houston throws a harder, faster ball compared to Hornibrook's looping passes, though both struggled with accuracy Tuesday.

Hornibrook threw an ill-advised pass during an 11-on-11 drill that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted for a touchdown by safety Leo Musso.

There is no timetable on when Chryst will name a starter, and the competition could extend into the beginning of fall camp.

"I think the plan is more to let us go at it," Hornibrook said. "Each of us develops at our own rate. That's kind of what he was focusing on when he was talking to us. But I don't think he's planning on naming a starter or anything. He kind of wants us to both develop as much as we can individually."

Houston is normally the first to crack a joke during an interview session, but he was far more serious and subdued following Tuesday's practice. In that regard, he said he was handling his approach to practice this spring "a little different." Houston noted he had watched film cut-ups of previous Badgers starting quarterbacks Scott Tolzien, Russell Wilson and Stave to prepare for the season.

Now, he hopes to be the next starter in line after he works through his final quarterback battle.

"We learn off of each others' successes and failures in practice, and now we're only trying to beat the air," Houston said. "You can only learn so much. After spring break, you'll learn a lot more."