MISSOULA — Montana football coach Bobby Hauck said on the first day of fall camp last year he was sure the Griz would be playing two quarterbacks.
He was less direct at the first fall camp this season on Saturday when asked if he wanted to run a two-quarterback system again this year.
“I want to win games,” he said. “So whatever we do any time, any decision we make is to help us win that game that week. That’s how we approach it. It’s about winning on Saturday. So whatever that may be, I don’t care what it is. We can run a three-punter system, it don’t matter. We want to win games on Saturday.”
The two-quarterback system was a main storyline throughout 2024 as the Griz rotated between Keali’i Ah Yat and Logan Fife. They finished with a 9-5 record and a second-round playoff exit after making the 2023 FCS title game.
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Ah Yat is back this season and so is another quarterback battle. He said he welcomes the competition from Southern Cal transfer Jake Jensen and redshirt freshman Luke Flowers while focusing on controlling what he can control.
“He’s brought another person with experience,” Ah Yat said of what Jensen has added to the quarterback room. “We all bounce ideas off each other, help each other out.”
Ah Yat has gotten to learn the same system while playing for Brent Pease, who has been on staff since 2018 and enters his third season as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Jensen joined in the spring.
“All the quarterbacks, we all have a great relationship,” he said. “It’s good just in the summer to see each other’s reps, play off each other. We have a little bit different games, but I think it’s been good just being around each other. Learning from each other has been great.”
Flowers enters his second season at UM. This is his first time being in the competition for the starting job.
“I just focus on me,” he said. “I try to execute each play to my best ability. Not really worried about what other quarterbacks are doing but also be able to take mental reps while they’re on the field and better myself while I’m off the field as well.”
All three are taking reps behind an experienced offensive line, which Jensen said gives him “a lot of comfort. They’re throwing to a new-look receiver group that Jensen highlighted for their speed and having “a lot of weapons.”
Ah Yat said the thing he’s most excited about for fall camp is competing against UM’s “good defense.” Linebacker Geno Leonard, one of few familiar faces in an overhauled defense, has gotten a look at that offense and the quarterbacks operating it throughout the offseason.
“All summer going against those guys, it’s made us better,” he said. “I think we’re playing against some of the best guys in the conference, the country, whatever you want to say. It’s fun”
Who’s back
For the second year in a row, redshirt sophomore Keali’i Ah Yat (6-foot-1, 192 pounds) enters the season as the only quarterback on the roster who has played a game in a Griz uniform.
The Hawaii native got his first extensive playing time last season, starting six times and seeing the field in 11 of 15 games. He missed three conference games becase of injuries. Being banged up again forced him to miss some of spring camp.
He said he worked on his deep passing game this offseason after he threw for 1,121 yards and seven touchdowns against six interceptions on 59.3% passing last year. He felt he “ran the ball pretty well” as he rushed for 159 yards and seven scores. His main focus now is “managing the game better.”
“Just slowing things down in my mind,” he said. “Just processing things, trying to get the pre-snap, post-snap reads. Just trying to be more of a student of the game and slowing things down.”
Ah Yat, the son of Grizzly Hall of Fame quarterback Brian Ah Yat, has played in 16 career games across his first two years in Missoula. He’s completed 60.8% of his passes for 1,392 yards and eight touchdowns with six picks. He’s had 144 rushing yards and seven TD runs.
Getting all those game reps while being in the same offensive system has him feeling good entering this year.
“Of course it feels more comfortable with two years under my belt now, so got that experience,” he said. “I’m just trying to take that step being a leader and just helping other guys out.”
Freshman Luke Flowers (6-1, 187) redshirted last year in his first season at UM. He made some of the more electrifying throws in the spring game in April as he went 8-of-15 passing with a touchdown.
“Last year, it was pretty fast for me, took a while to really get to know everything,” he said of adapting to the college game. “But now it’s been catching on a little quicker and able to catch on to concepts quicker and know things a little better. Definitely has slowed down a little bit.”
Flowers was a three-star prospect and the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the state of Idaho for 2024 coming out of Rigby High School. He was coached by his father Aaron Flowers, who had played quarterback at Cal State Northridge.
“I think I fit our offensive scheme pretty well,” he said in describing himself as a quarterback. “I like to throw the ball. Not quite as mobile, trying to get there. Just a pocket passer, deliver the ball when it needs to be out.”
Sophomore Gage Sliter (6-1, 189) of Kalispell has yet to play in a game as he enters his third year in Missoula. He threw a touchdown in the spring game.
Freshman Cody Schweikert (6-3, 208) of Columbia Falls is back at quarterback after he redshirted last year and didn’t appear in a game. He had joined the program under the “athlete” banner and was given a chance to see if he could stick at quarterback, which he played in high school.
Who’s new
Fifth-year senior Jake Jensen (6-1, 212) is entering his first season with the Griz after transferring in the winter and going through spring camp.
He has been in quarterback competitions as he most recently spent three seasons as a backup at USC, where he played in three games and attempted just two rushes. Those competitions taught him lessons in fighting for a job.
“I think it’s all about just consistency,” he said. “In the fall, you get different stuff every day. The defense is throwing in different looks. The offense is throwing in different looks. So just trying to stay consistent, stay in the playbook, learn from the mistakes you make and go out there and improve.”
His only meaningful playing time came in 2021 at Contra Costa College in 2021. He went 9-1 as a starter, throwing for 1,970 yards and 22 touchdowns with nine picks while running for 105 yards and four scores.
Jensen had started college at BYU in spring 2021 as a walk-on after he went on a Mormon mission coming out of high school in 2019. At Pleasant Grove High School in Utah, he threw for 7,423 yards and 61 touchdowns with 29 interceptions while running for 16 scores in 36 games over four years.
Drew Price (5-10, 175) is a true freshman who had played at Ponte Vedra High School in Ponte Vedra, Florida. He threw for 1,913 yards and 19 touchdowns against nine interceptions on 56.5% passing in 12 games last year. He also ran for 516 yards and three scores on 95 carries. He’s the son of newly hired offensive analyst Eric Price.
Who’s gone
Logan Fife transferred to FBS program New Mexico State and has been named the starter in his final season of eligibility. He started eight times and played in 13 of 15 games during his lone season at UM after he transferred from FBS program Fresno State. He threw for 1,890 yards and 14 touchdowns against two interceptions while completing 63.5% of his passes. He also ran for 135 yards and five scores on 57 carries.
Kaden Huot of Helena transferred to NAIA program Carroll College with two seasons of eligibility remaining. He played in one game over three years in Missoula, rushing once for 2 yards and not attempting a pass.
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at [email protected].
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