Humphrey, Griz, get most from abbreviated spring

In the hours before the sports world began its sudden, sad, grind to a halt in March, it was business as usual for the Montana football program, holding what would be its final practice ahead of spring break.

It was an uncertain time when sports fans of all stripes were repeatedly checking their phones for the next bad-news update as basketball tournaments around the country began to close down one by one.

As a late-winter storm blew out of Hellgate Canyon, head coach Bobby Hauck's Grizzlies were scrimmaging for the first time in 2020, putting a measuring stick on the progress the team had made over the course of six practices, and hoping it wasn't their last.

"I was joking with the guys saying we're going to go 600 plays in case we can't complete spring," said Hauck on this week's new Inside the Den spring podcast series.

"We didn't do that, of course. But we did go 130, 140 plays, which was great. And all of those live plays for our young guys are invaluable."

Unfortunately for everyone it would be the last practice of spring, as the COVID-19 virus continued its march around the globe.

Despite only getting 40-percent of the way through the 15-session slate, Hauck came away from spring with a favorable taste in his mouth, saying the team's "really good winter" conditioning period had transitioned to the field.

"I'm glad we got it in, and I'm disappointed we couldn't complete it. But there were some great things," said Hauck.

"It looked good. So, it was nice to be able to get some of that stuff on film, evaluate it, and assess what we thought.

"We have a lot of young players on this team that are going to have to contribute next fall, we've got some position changes, so every rep those guys can get in practice was valuable, and I saw a lot of growth."

One of the position groups perhaps receiving the most evaluation this spring was the quarterbacks, where rising senior Cam Humphrey, sophomore Robbie Patterson, and freshman Kris Brown were all competing for the starting spot vacated by Dalton Sneed, who has since graduated and moved on to the CFL.

Humphrey, who made three starts his junior year and picked up two crucial wins, entered the spring season as Sneed's heir-apparent as the only senior in the group. And despite the brevity of the season, he says he was impressed with the way the team had come together in the short time before spring practices stopped around the nation.

"Within two to three practices, it felt like we had been practicing for two months. We just got right back into it," said Humphrey, via video call.

"So, it's such a bummer we weren't able to finish it because the strides we were taking every day was so impressive, but we got some good things out of it. We got the most we could for the time we had."

What made the spring such a brief but beneficial period? For Hauck, it's the will to compete that's been instilled in the Grizzlies over the last two seasons. The will that helped the team return to the FCS Quarterfinals for the first time in a decade in 2019, and hasn't been lost over the winter.

"This group, and last year's group as well, are fiercely competitive," Hauck said.

"You're supposed to go out there and compete hard with your brother on your football team daily to make him better and make yourself better. That spirit of competition is never to the detriment of the other guy. When it's good, healthy, physical combat out there on the football field, it makes everybody better. I thought it was great."

That spirit of competition extended into the quarterback room, and the subsequent battle on the field during those six practices. While Humphrey took the bulk of the first-team reps, as one would expect from a senior, Patterson and Brown each showed flashes, and for Humphrey, that can only make the team better.

"Both of them are a great addition to the QB room. Since I've been here, it's been nothing but good vibes between all the quarterbacks. It's friendly competition, and that's just what it's been," said the 6-foot-2 signal-caller.

"They're both a hell of a quarterback, both great quarterbacks, can throw the ball pretty well, pretty mobile, actually probably more mobile than me," he added with a laugh.

"They're going to fight their butt off. They're competitive just like me, and at the end of the day, we want the guy who's going to get the team to win. If it's not me, shoot, I'll be bummed, but the other guy better win."

Now, while social-distancing at his apartment in Missoula and working on completing a full course load online, Humphrey says the quarterbacks' attention has been turned to academics and keeping their football IQs up with remote position meetings.

"We've been doing some maintenance work, talking through reads. It's kind of tough when you're not there in person, but it ended up working out alright. I feel like all the QBs have a good understanding of what they did right and wrong at the scrimmage just through a Zoom meeting. So, it ended up working out alright. Communication has been good," said Humphrey.

"The only thing is, being quarantined like this is tough because guys want to go work out, we want to throw. We're not practicing, so we want to get something physical going. So, it's kind of on us players to get creative. I know a lot of guys have built gyms in their garage and stuff like that, so yeah, a difficult time, but we're making it work."

But if and when the world returns to normal following the coronavirus outbreak, the lack of a complete spring season may not be as detrimental to Humphrey as it could be for some.

The Issaquah, Wash. native showed plenty of ability and efficiency in leading the Grizzlies to wins over Eastern Washington and Portland State with Sneed out with an injury.

The journeyman QB, who started his college career at Boise State before a season at Saddleback Junior College, threw for 511 yards and five touchdowns in that two-game stretch and said it prepared him for whatever lies ahead.

"Looking back on it, the experience is awesome. Understanding what it takes to be mentally prepared for a game, knowing you're going in to start. Just kind of understanding that starter mentality and knowing what that takes. I think that's probably the biggest thing I learned from it," Humphrey said. "It was a good deal. I learned a lot from that."

Of course, being the understudy to a dynamic, record-setting quarterback like Sneed doesn't hurt either when preparing to compete for the starting job at Montana.

"He's just a real-life, raw competitor. Seeing that day-in and day-out, it's impressive, and you can't help but take something from it," Humphrey added.

While the position battle at QB, and indeed every other position on the field for the Grizzlies, will have to wait for fall, Humphrey believes the team is in a good place to improve on last year's ten-win season and continue the return to dominance.

"It's such a bummer we couldn't finish it," he said of the spring season.

"From where we were at two years ago during spring ball to where we're at now is unbelievable. The strides we've taken as a team, seeing these younger guys step up and just in those six practices – speaking from an offensive standpoint – we were really clicking. We got to try some things out that were working, and everyone was clicking."

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Kris Brown

Cam Humphrey

Robbie Patterson

Dalton Sneed

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