One was expected to emerge during the team’s spring game in April. Instead, both passed for 357 yards and four touchdowns.

Entering fall camp, again, one was expected to distance himself from the other. Didn’t happen.

So, while Cousins will be the one taking the first snap tomorrow, the competition has been termed by quarterbacks coach Dave Warner as “ongoing.”

“They’ve been neck-and-neck from day one, they really have,” Warner said. “What made it difficult is they’re just both such good competitors and students of the game and they both performed very well. It’s been difficult, but it came to the time where we had to make a decision and, right or wrong, we had to make it and we did and the competition continues, bottom line.”

Both Warner and MSU head coach Mark Dantonio have stressed the need to get both quarterbacks in a rhythm during Saturday’s game. While Cousins will start, Nichol will take snaps in the first half and also will be allowed to get into a rhythm.

“Our job is to provide opportunity to grow,” Dantonio said. “I wasn’t going to flip a coin to decide who was going to start. We had to make a call and it was a tough call. It was probably the most difficult I’ve had to make in terms of who plays and who doesn’t start since I’ve been a head coach. I felt we needed to do that and we needed to do that at a point in time where they could prepare themselves for their roles.”

Cousins said the coaches told him he gained the edge because it was his third year in the program. Nichol came to campus following the 2007 season after transferring from Oklahoma.

“He’s been in our program going on three years right now,” Warner said. “He certainly knows the system. His body has changed; he’s become bigger and stronger. His arm’s become stronger, but as much as anything, he’s matured into a leader. I think he’s making good decisions out there, I think he’s doing a great job leading and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when he’s thrown in the fire on Saturday.”

With that being said, the coaching staff will continue to constantly evaluate the quarterbacks in hopes of making a decision.

“Quarterback is so much more than just throwing the football down the field,” Dantonio said. “It’s about getting in the right play, it’s about handling the huddle, it’s about being the check at the line of scrimmage, going through your correct reads down the field. … It’s all those things. We’ll look at mental errors, we’ll look at critical mistakes, we’ll look at opportunities to make plays, we’ll look at being correct in every respect.”

The experience in the system turned out to be a big factor in the race. After redshirting in 2007, Cousins played in five games last season in relief of Hoyer, completing 32-of-43 passes for 310 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. He played in important situations in games against Ohio State, where he completed 10 straight attempts and against Georgia in the Capital One Bowl, where he completed four of five passes for 36 yards.

Nichol played sparingly behind Sam Bradford in his freshman season at Oklahoma, appearing in only three games and attempting seven passes. But he impressed in 2008, being named MSU’s scout team offensive player of the year.

But the lack of game experience at MSU seemed to tip the scale in Cousins’ favor.

“I really thought I had to finalize everything and really surpass him completely to be named the guy to get the first snap and I don’t think that was done really,” Nichol said. “I felt like I was building up a lot of momentum this fall camp but I didn’t really feel like I had established that first-string role yet. We were still going back and forth and we both had our days and, like I said, a tie was going to go to the guy that has been here longer and I think he’s deserving of that. He’s waited his turn and it’ll be fun for him.”

During camp, the two alternated days taking snaps with the first-string players. Warner said now he has flipped to Cousins taking two-thirds of those snaps on a daily basis.

With the competition still in full gear, the coaching staff has been quick to note that neither player will be pulled for a single bad play.

“(Coach Warner) said the big thing is going to be not pressing out there, not trying to do too much, not trying to show yourself off,” Cousins said. “Just staying within the system, staying within the offense and just trying to make plays with what we called. That’s going to be something we’re going to have to be sharp about doing and making sure we’re not trying to do too much with the chances we’re given and staying within ourselves, which is going to be a challenge, but we’re going to have to do.”

Both are born leaders. Cousins was named one of four team captains for the season, becoming only the second sophomore in program history — and first since 1946 — to be named a captain. Nichol also received votes, Dantonio said.

Warner said Cousins’ status as a captain had no effect on the decision.

“When Keith goes in the game on Saturday we expect Kirk to lead from the sidelines as a captain and continue to do that down the road,” Warner said.

Cousins said it is a greater honor to be named a captain than to win the starting quarterback job.

“It’s pretty humbling, a pretty great opportunity for me,” he said. “It’s a great chance to lead and to be a servant to the guys and hopefully make some wise choices there and make a great influence on the team.”

Senior receiver Blair White, a fellow captain, had great praise for Cousins’ leadership ability.

“More than anything, the important thing that he does is his leadership and poise that he brings to the field,” White said. “I find myself comparing my life and my play on the field to him just because he’s morally upright, he’s a real hard worker. I don’t think anything is more important than having that intangible leadership characteristic that he does.”

To their credit, both Cousins and Nichol have been praised across the board for handling the situation with maturity.

But even as the two noted they were competing with each other, not against, the stress and meaning of the competition was not lost on Cousins or Nichol.

“As a human you don’t like the stress necessarily, but it definitely pushes us to be the best players we can be because you cannot relax,” Cousins said.

“Every time you think about taking a day off or relaxing all you have to do is think about not playing on Saturdays and it’s a pretty good motivating tool to get to work.”

But despite all the external factors, it’s going to be their play on the field, that is going to decide who leads the team this season.

“We’re not going to sit here and say every week who’s going to start, that’s not what we need to do,” Dantonio said.

“What we need to do is allow for the growth of our quarterbacks. I’ve said this many times: These guys are sophomores. They have 36 games to play. This is not a sprint. This is an endurance race. We’re going to need both these players to be successful. It’s important that we stay unified in what we do as a program and give everybody an opportunity and that’s what we’re going to do.”