PISCATAWAY -- It's only one practice and it's only one expert opinion, but maybe there is the first bit of separation in the Rutgers quarterback battle.

The Big Ten Network road trip crew made its annual training camp visit to Rutgers on Friday afternoon and put fresh eyes on depth chart co-starters Chris Laviano and Zach Allen.

What did they see?

"If I had to decide today, I would go with Allen based on today," BTN analyst Gerry DiNardo told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview. "He definitely has a better feel for the option stuff and the formations. That obviously puts Chris at a little bit of a disadvantage."

Laviano, who showed some deceptive mobility last season, has spent most of his career under center in the pro-style offense.

Rutgers is operating exclusively out of the shotgun in the power spread offense, so Laviano got first crack at running the option run installs in Wednesday's practice as he tries to increase his comfort level.

"Allen is ahead right now," DiNardo said, "but Chris can close the gap because as he learns the offense the gap will get smaller. This is based on one day and partially the product that for Allen, this is a similar offense."

At least in the first week of training camp, the battle essentially boils down to Laviano's experience (11 starts last season) and familiarity with the coaching staff that arrived in January versus Allen's dual-threat mobility and natural leadership.

Allen only attempted two passes in three years in TCU's spread, ultimately moving to wide receiver last season before taking the graduate transfer route in June. Like Laviano, Allen has two years of eligibility remaining.

But the rust on Allen has come off quickly, apparently. The spread-to-spread different verbiage hasn't been much of a roadblock, either.

What are @BTNTomDienhart's "three impressions" from @RFootball practice? Hint: One of them involves the QB battle https://t.co/1AEVeMRvMJ — Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) August 12, 2016

"I don't necessarily think that's a problem," said DiNardo, a former head coach at LSU, Vanderbilt and Indiana, said of Allen's inexperience.

"If Allen is ahead in the run game now -- let's say that's because he's (used to) running this offense to be fair to Chris -- I still don't know that there is any separation in the pass game. If you give Allen the edge in the run and it's a draw in the pass game, then Allen is ahead."

Rutgers offensive coordinator Drew Mehringer said that he is not going to force a dual-threat into the lineup if he is not the best option for winning, but DiNardo has seen the offense at its best at Ohio State.

Mehringer is a protege of former Ohio State offensive coordinator-turned-Houston coach Tom Herman.

'Not all spread teams want to run the quarterback," DiNardo said.

"Nobody wants to run the quarterback over and over and over, but you want the defense when they are looking at you in neutral downs -- first and-10, second-and-medium, third-and-short -- to have to defend tailback downhill game and the quarterback run, and then obviously the pass game.

"That's what this offense has to do to be successful. That's when Ohio State is most successful."

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.