After an impressive scrimmage on Saturday, freshman Damion Terry has made the competition a legitimate quartet along with senior Andrew Maxwell, sophomore Connor Cook and redshirt freshman Tyler O’Connor.

In the second closed scrimmage of the preseason, Terry impressed by throwing for 240 yards and three touchdowns while running for 40 yards on 12 carries against primarily first-team defenders, according to a release from the MSU athletics department.

“What we have seen is that (Terry) made plays in the scrimmage. He throws a good ball, he made plays with his feet and that’s all you can assess,” Dantonio said Monday.

“At the beginning of the scrimmage it was a three-horse race, and at the end of the scrimmage it was a four-horse race.”

Now 11 days away from the first game, the coaching staff hoped the second scrimmage would provide more clarity at quarterback, but Terry’s performance and a recent surge by O’Connor have made things more cloudy.

It wasn’t initially planned for Terry to get as many opportunities as he did, but Dantonio kept testing him and he met the challenge, he said.

“As the scrimmage progressed, he did well with the (third-team offense),” Dantonio said. “You know, (I) sort of shrugged my shoulders and put him with the twos. Sort of shrugged my shoulders and put him with the ones. It’s not that complicated, you’re going to play the guys that move the football down the field, that don’t make mistakes, that can create. I’ve said that all along, and he demonstrated that.”

Quarterbacks coach Brad Salem said all four will work with the first- and second-team offenses for the remainder of fall camp.

“It complicates things in the sense of who gets reps,” Salem said. “At some point we need to define it. … We’ve got to define it at some point and one or two guys are going to get the majority of the reps and that’s sort of what you have to do because that’s best for the team.”

When asked if incumbent starter Maxwell had lost ground in the race, Salem said “No, I don’t think so,” and went on to note his steadiness and experience in the offense.

As for Terry, who was seen as a probable redshirt candidate prior to the breakout scrimmage, Salem said he is open to communication about potentially using him in specific packages that utilize his mobility.

“That guy can move, (he showed me) he can move with his legs,” sophomore defensive end Shilique Calhoun said. “He’s not one of those guys that’s going to stand there and get hit. He’s going to make something out of nothing, that’s for sure.”

Still, unless Terry is going to be the starter it seems highly unlikely the staff would leave four active quarterbacks on the roster. Salem said the true freshman is miles ahead of where he was at the beginning of camp from a mental standpoint, and that it’s possible for him to be prepared for Western Michigan, but it would have to be a more simplified strategy.

“We’re always going to play the best guy, and that’s always been kind of (Dantonio’s) mantra,” Salem said. “… If a redshirt is a situation, it is. If it isn’t, sometimes maybe you play it out a couple games, who knows.”

Just as things were supposed to be taking shape for the MSU football program, the quarterback situation got murkier. Dantonio says he’s confident in all four contenders, which should make the coming days a lot more interesting with no signs of telling how long this competition will last.

“Tom Izzo plays a freshman point guard all the time. All the time,” Dantonio said. “When that guy asserts himself and takes control of the football team, or the basketball team, that’s the guy who’s gonna play. I don’t care whether he’s a senior, sophomore, junior, redshirt freshman or freshman, that’s the best thing to do.”