HARRISONBURG — The quarterback battle at James Madison’s preseason camp is still a few days away from becoming a competition.

First-year JMU football coach Mike Houston said South Carolina transfer Connor Mitch must gain comfort with offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick’s scheme in order to push junior Bryan Schor for the starting role.

“Bryan Schor knows the offense. He was with us in the spring. Connor [Mitch] is at a disadvantage for the first few days because he wasn’t with us during the spring and wasn’t with us for the bulk of the summer,” Houston said following JMU’s first preseason practice on Monday. “The big thing is to get [Mitch] acclimated and prepared to compete.”

Schor took the majority of reps with the first-team offense during a two-hour, 45-minute, non-padded workout. Mitch rotated in with the second-string offense before playing a few series with the first unit toward the end of practice.

The offense isn’t completely foreign to Mitch.

Kirkpatrick tried to recruit Mitch to East Carolina before Mitch signed with the Gamecocks out of Wakefield (Raleigh, N.C.) High School. The ex-Gamecock said a lot of the scheme is similar, but with some tweaks compared to the offense that Kirkpatrick first showed Mitch during his recruitment out of high school.

Kirkpatrick said he understands Mitch — a junior — needs time to comprehend the offense.

“I thought Connor [Mitch] was probably thinking a lot today. He was a little hesitant, but he sure showed that he has great ability,” Kirkpatrick said. “I’d say we’re hoping he’ll be ready to compete within a week.”

Kirkpatrick said his plan is to install the entire offense within the next five days.

“Connor’s head will spin for the first five days because every day will be something different for him,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’ll have him rep everything at least once. Then next week, we’ll see what he can do.”

Mitch said he should be able to learn the scheme quickly.

“This is the third offense that I’m learning in four years, so I’ve picked up the system of learning offenses,” Mitch said.

In three years at South Carolina, Mitch started two games last fall. He helped lift South Carolina to a 17-13 win over North Carolina to open its 2015 season. In the contest, Mitch passed for 122 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 44 yards on 10 attempts. JMU travels to North Carolina on Sept. 17.

Schor started the final four games of JMU’s 2015 season when starting quarterback Vad Lee was lost for the year with an injury. In those four starts, Schor threw for 732 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder said he is embracing the competition.

“Nothing changes for me,” Schor said. “They brought in competition and I think that’s good for both of us. Competition won’t make anyone worse.”

Schor, a junior college transfer from Lackawanna College, said he knows understanding the offense is part of the equation for coaches when they evaluate competition.

“There is a lot of trust that our coordinator puts into me,” Schor said. “My favorite thing about the offense is the control that it gives me. If there’s something that we’re running against a particular coverage, but I see something else, I can switch the play to the opposite way.”

During the 7-on-7 drills and team period, Schor connected for completions with receivers Brandon Ravenel, Domo Taylor and Ishmael Hyman on multiple occasions, showing he could spread the ball around in Kirkpatrick’s balanced offense.

“I would think by the weekend that Connor [Mitch] will be competing, but I’ll tell you this now, Bryan Schor has a lot of fight in him. He’s a competitor,” Houston said.

Despite not directly involved in the race for the first-team quarterback job, freshman Cole Johnson made a strong initial impression on the coaching staff, Kirkpatrick said.

Last fall, Johnson was a First-Team All-757 selection as a senior at Cox High School in Virginia Beach.

“I was really impressed with his poise and knowledge of what we’re doing already and how he picked up on it,” Kirkpatrick said. “He was out there delivering the ball and doing some good things for his first college practice.”

NOTE: JMU sports information director Chris Brooks said Duke transfer Terrence Alls is still finishing classes in Durham, N.C., and isn’t expected to arrive at JMU until next week.