The anticipated quarterback competition has finally started.

Fifth-year senior Cole Johnson and fourth-year junior Gage Moloney will each have opportunities to impress James Madison coach Curt Cignetti, he said Thursday after the team’s first fall practice.

Johnson took first-team snaps on Thursday.

“We’re going to do it like we did the first spring I was here,” Cignetti said, referring to battle former Dukes signal-caller Ben DiNucci edged out Johnson for.

“Today was Cole’s day and Saturday will be Gage’s day,” Cignetti said. “And we’ll just go back and forth that way. I think that’s kind of the fairest way to do it, instead of splitting it up like drills during practice. There’s a little more continuity, too, when the guy has the full day. They’re both very capable.”

Johnson has the more game experience of the two, having appeared in 22 games. He’s completed 64 percent of the throws in his career for 1,099 yards and six touchdowns.

Moloney only appeared in eight contests over the last three years, but filled a significant role as wildcat quarterback in the Dukes’ FCS championship game loss to North Dakota State this past January.

“You’d like for someone to separate himself,” Cignetti said. “When a guy separates himself from another guy, it’s pretty obvious to everybody watching practice because he’s leading the team into the end zone, [scoring] points, completing passes and converting on third down and making plays with his legs and extending plays, improvising when he has to and protecting the football. Then the whole unit has a lot of confidence in that guy because he’s performing really well.

“And I think both guys are very capable of that and it’s not a position that concerns me. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out this [fall] and I suspect it could go into January in the spring season.”

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- Cignetti said his players were really excited to practice Thursday, since it was the team’s first practice since last January. “There was good flow,” he said, “good energy and got a lot of good work done.”

- A few goals the second-year Dukes coach has for his fall practices are to develop players, install schemes and stay injury free.

- Cignetti said Duke transfer wide receiver Scott Bracey has already impressed. “He made plays today when we went to the team period,” Cignetti said. “I noticed him finishing a couple of go balls.”

- During practice, the defensive line was noticeably different looking than the group last year. Ron’Dell Carter and John Daka graduated and Adeeb Atariwa transferred to Virginia, so the lone returning starter is defensive tackle Mike Greene. Defensive end Isaac Ukwu is back from his knee injury. Former Temple transfer Antonio Colclough is also playing defensive end and so is Jalen Green, who played behind Carter and Daka last year. Cignetti said he also thinks Minnesota transfer Abi N-Okonji can help the Dukes this spring.

- Cignetti said the team will practice Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays this fall, and that the team will scrimmage on Oct. 31 and Nov. 14.

- Cignetti said the spring schedule “is coming together” and that the school is real close to locking in its second non-conference opponent. The Daily News-Record reported JMU will play at home against Robert Morris on Feb. 27.