Last spring, chaos.
This spring, peace.
Last spring, three quarterbacks were vying for one starting role. This spring, with the starter firmly entrenched, three quarterbacks are fighting for the backup role behind junior Drew Stanton.
Sophomore Stephen Reaves, freshman Domenic Natale and redshirt freshman Brian Hoyer are all competing for the position, and the fight is still ongoing.
"I really think at this point that there is a pretty good fight going on there," MSU head coach John L. Smith said.
"Hopefully, that will continue. Hopefully, the right things will happen off the field so we can keep the fight going on the field."
Reaves came into the spring practice fourth on the depth chart due to problems off the field, and after not getting many snaps during the first week of practice, his snaps have picked up during the past few weeks.
"I like what I'm seeing from Stephen," Smith said. "We're starting to give him a few more snaps from time to time."
Reaves himself is more confident in his ability to do the job.
"I'm doing a lot better just understanding the system, recognizing defenses, things like that," Reaves said. "That just comes from experience, getting on the field and playing. Last year, I had no game experience before I played, so I was kind of shaky on a lot of reads, stuff like that and I think I've come along pretty well since last year."
Last season, Reaves completed 23-of-58 passes for 331 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions in five games.
Reaves knows what Smith is looking for from the trio on the field.
"What he's looking for right now is just somebody to pull away from the other guys mentally, make better decisions, stuff like that, then he'll start separating us come later parts of spring ball," he said.
Hoyer, who ran the scout team last season, is enjoying the competition that has ensued.
"The competition always makes you better," he said. "Going out there and competing every day has gotten me better over the last nine practices or so.
"This is my first spring practice, and I'm glad I have the competition out here to make me better."
Smith said he has liked what he has seen from Hoyer in his first batch of spring practices.
"Hoyer's getting a ton of snaps and has been competitive," Smith said. "He's got to step it up a notch."
This also is the first time that Hoyer, who says he's a mix between Stanton and former MSU quarterback Jeff Smoker, has ran MSU's spread offense, and he said he's noticed the game slowing down in front of him.
"I've improved a great deal," Hoyer said. "Last fall, I was just running scout team, I wasn't even running our plays, so this is really the first time I've been running our offense.
"I'm trying to take what we've learned in the meeting room to the field. I've improved over the weeks, but I have a long way to go."
The dark horse of the battle, Natale, has impressed Smith with his mental toughness.
"I like what I see from the rookie," Smith said. "Natale's doing a good job. He doesn't shy away from things. He doesn't let a lot of things bother him. He gets out and competes pretty good."
Stanton has watched the battle unfold in front of him and has been impressed with what he has seen.
"It's been real intense," he said.
"It's been back and forth each day, and it's forcing me to even go out there and compete because they're making such strides, especially Hoyer, because this is his first time really getting in the offense."
Smith expects experience to prevail and that it will come down to Reaves and Hoyer battling for the job, but Reaves is taking a wait-and-see approach.
"We're not expecting him to make any quick decisions on who is going to be the backup and right now, we're not even really worried about competing for the backup job," Reaves said. "We're worried about coming out here and getting the mental part of the game right.
"If he makes a decision in spring, that's great, but you never know with Coach Smith."
