The final score at the spring game doesn’t matter. It wasn’t even correct on the scoreboard at the end of the annual April scrimmage. What does matter is one of coach Paul Rhoads’ favorite words: improvement.

Quarterback is one of the most scrutinized positions in team sports, so fans and coaches alike want to see progress from their signal callers. The guys in black jerseys not using their feet did their best to impress the crowds, but mostly their obligatorily critical coaches.

“I wanted to see accuracy and production and leadership and moving a football team down the field,” Rhoads said. “With this offense, we need to throw around 65 percent completions, and some games even better than that. Obviously, our touchdown-to-interception ratio has to increase.”

Austen Arnaud will be the starting quarterback for the Cyclones for the third straight year, and the Ames native showed his knowledge of the offense and efficiency Saturday. Without missing many throws and enjoying the open space offensive coordinator Tom Herman’s spread can provide, Arnaud didn’t find the end zone through the air but felt good about his performance.

“I’m not learning on the run anymore. I’m making adjustments and making changes at the line more comfortably than I have before, and it’s only going to get better,” Arnaud said.

Arnaud’s understudy and the fleet-footed quarterback for last season’s historic victory at Nebraska, Jerome Tiller, saw plenty of action Saturday for the Gold team. Passing or running for 48 plays, Tiller showed his affinity for sprinting out of the pocket and making a little contact down field, special no-contact jersey or not.

“I’m a lot further advanced than I was last year, I pretty much know the entire offense in and out, it’s just a matter of putting it on the field,” Tiller said.

Tiller will be classified as a redshirt sophomore come fall and still has another season to learn behind the tutelage of Arnaud. Rhoads was pleased with his playing time, but still intimated that he wanted the backup to make better decisions, referring to a fumble on a late option read.

“Jerome is a talented young man — whether the fumble on the one option was his fault or not is irrelevant, it’s a great teaching point,” Rhoads said. “If he’s going to be an every-down football player for us, he’s got to be smart.”

Arnaud was finished by halftime for the Cardinal team, and while Tiller stayed out longer for the Gold team, he, too, was eventually replaced by Iowa State’s stable of reserves, including the 5-foot-11-inch freshman James Capello, who redshirted in 2009. Capello finished 6-of-12 passing with 44 yards and didn’t turn the ball over against a defense that played fast most of the game.

Even Bettendorf native Brett Bueker got in on a bit of action, finishing 3-of-5 passing but getting a positive reaction after a 24-yard scamper down the right side.

The black jerseys will come off eventually for the quarterbacks and the competition will step up when the hits start coming. Until that time, the Cyclones are all about improvement, and the guys taking snaps out of the shotgun will be held to the highest progress standard on the squad.

“I refer to the quarterbacks in a game like this to be invisible and bulletproof at times, and I think that helps them a little bit,” Rhoads said. “Whether we have a quarterback race or not, we can have two quarterbacks that can help us win football games, and that’s quite pleasing.”