Arkansas’ ongoing competition at the quarterback position continues to be a burning question through 11 days of fall camp, and the two signal-callers assumed to be vying for the open job spoke to the media on Wednesday, giving some perspective straight from the source.

Cole Kelley, a 6-7 sophomore from Lafayette (La.), started four games last season when Austin Allen went down with an injury. In his time on the field, Kelley racked up 1,038 yards, 10 touchdowns (eight passing, two rushing) and four interceptions. This offseason, Kelley has trimmed down from approximately 270 pounds to nearly 255, improving his mobility in the pocket.



Splitting reps with junior Ty Storey, Kelley is pleased with his individual performance to this point but is even more impressed with the showing of the offensive unit as a whole.



“I think I started out camp really good, I think I did some good things…but as a whole offense, I’m really impressed. Our wide receivers, our tight ends, running backs, o-line, the o-line in the scrimmage was just pounding people. So, our offense right now is doing good, we’re doing good,” Kelley said.



The Hogs continue to install more and more concepts of head coach Chad Morris’ offense each week. Tempo, an aspect that Morris harps on consistently, seems to have improved since spring practice.



“It’s way better. We have certain situations and periods where we try to go as fast as possible. Sometimes you don’t want to go as fast as possible. But when we’re going as fast as we can, it is night and day difference than it was in the spring,” Kelley said.



Last Saturday, Arkansas held its first scrimmage of the fall. Storey, a 6-2 pro-style passer from Charleston (Ark.), ran first-team quarterback to begin the scrimmage and looked efficient early on, according to the coaching staff. He’s only thrown four career passes as a Hog, but Storey’s intellectual and conservative approach to playing the position makes him the safer option.



Offensive coordinator Joe Craddock estimated that Storey finished the scrimmage 9 for 12 and made some positive plays, despite throwing an interception to cornerback Chevin Calloway.



“I thought it was a pretty good day. Our O-line was really good. They gave us a lot of time to get our reads and stuff. Our guys got open and when stuff like that happens the numbers look a little better. It was a good day all around,” Storey said.



Storey lauded the effort of the running backs, saying it was nice to see the stable of ball carriers in live action.



Kelley’s numbers were estimated around 13 for 26, but Craddock did admit that he was the victim of at least five drops from wide receivers. Kelley acknowledged his slow start but claimed he picked things up as the action moved along.



“Started off fast in the scrimmage. I missed like one or two throws at the beginning but then I caught rhythm and I started to get in a little groove,” Kelley said. “We had some offensive linemen, like Austin Capps who’s never played offensive line except for high school, and they did a phenomenal job regardless, so I had a couple bad throws but caught rhythm after that.”



Following the scrimmage on Tuesday, Morris told the media that he and the staff had yet to find a clear front-runner in the competition. In order to create that separation that seems to be lacking, Kelley is doing his best to soak up everything his coaches tell him.



“Really just day by day [I’m] trying to be the best leader I can be because that’s the most important thing for a quarterback is to be a leader. You’ve got to be a coach on the field and be an extension of the coach. So that’s just really what I’m trying to be,” Kelley said. “I’m trying to be a sponge when I’m around Coach Craddock and Coach Morris and just taking some of their lessons and some of the experience that they have, and just trying to be able to spread it around with my teammates.”



The elephant in the room is obvious to both Kelley and Storey, but neither guy is letting the unanswered question of who will start affect them in a negative way.



“I mean, it’s been there for a long time, so it’s just how it is. You’ve got to learn to live with it and just keep trying to do what you can to get a little bit better,” Storey said. “You can’t really (get stressed) at this point, or I think we’d all be going crazy.”



This Saturday, August 18, the Razorbacks will hold their second scrimmage of the fall. Though it’s unclear whether a starter will be named next week, the significance of a quality performance is obvious.



“Saturday is really important but it’s not as important as today is and that’s a big thing Coach Morris has been preaching to us. When we get to Saturday it’s going to be very important, right now we’re taking it day by day,” Kelley said.

