Competition breeding excellence in Grizzly QB room

Editor's Note: As fall camp ramps up, GoGriz.com will bring you position-by-position breakdowns of the 2025 team, introducing you to new faces and returners to keep an eye on this season. Next up: The quarterbacks.

Every day at Montana's fall camp, players load up on busses behind Washington-Grizzly Stadium and take a five-minute ride to Dornblaser Field where, for the next two hours, everything is a competition.

Each rep, each play, each movement, the body language, the effort, the hustle. It's all being captured to break down later in the film room. And it doesn't stop at Dornblaser. Work in the weight room? Competition. Meeting rooms? Compete there too.

Every player, at every position, every day, is in a competition with himself and his teammates to be the best he can possibly be, at whatever position he plays.

For head coach Bobby Hauck and his staff, that's what makes a team the best it can be. Each position is always up for grabs. That, in turn, leads to championships. And Montana has had plenty of those.

Like the old saying goes, 'competition breeds excellence'. And the team is better for it.

Competition in the quarterback room is no different.

Now in the tail end of UM's first full week at fall camp, offensive coordinator and QB coach Brent Pease has his eyes focused squarely on the competition under center as the Griz search for the next starter.

Montana has seen most of the first team reps split between two players during the spring season and into fall camp, both experienced in their own way but both still working to solidify their first full-time D-I starting job.

Sophomore Keali'i Ah Yat returns for his second season in the mix to grab the starting job at Montana. As a redshirt freshman he made six starts and appeared in 11 games in 2024 but was hampered by injury.

Senior Jake Jensen arrived in Missoula in January after three seasons spent as a backup at USC under Lincoln Riley. Before arriving at Southern Cal he threw for nearly 2,000 yards and 22 TDs at Contra Costa College in 2021.

As the two most experienced in the room, they are among the QBs who are vying to be the top signal caller, and the competition in the room will only benefit the whole squad.

So, what will it take for one to separate himself in this competition?

"We are looking for production, decision making, accuracy with the ball, toughness, and consistency. Those are the things that will determine who plays," said Pease.

"There is still some up and down at this early stage of camp, which is natural. But as a group I think they are ahead of where we were last year or even where we were in the spring. I think they're ahead in their development because they understand the offense better. So, I'm happy with how they're performing, and I think each one of them has grown."

THE VETERANS

Ah Yat has had the most time in the Grizzly offense with 16 overall appearances in his true and redshirt freshmen seasons. He starts his sophomore year with 138 career completions on 227 attempts for 1,392 yards and 15 total TDs.

Not afraid to use his legs and put his body on the line, he also missed the bulk of four games in 2024 due to injury.

They say the best ability is availability, and for Pease, that's one of the keys if Ah Yat is to earn the starting job.

"He got in too many situations where he got hurt last year and wasn't back soon enough so he could never just take control of it and grab it. So, he's got to do that," he said.

"I think he's got great arm ability and foot ability and has a strong decision-making process. He's grown a lot more mature, and he's more physically developed now, but he's got to stay healthy. He played minimally in the spring, so he's got to show his development too."

JENSEN is the newcomer trying to find what every college football player wants: playing time. He's spent his D-I career backing up the likes of Caleb Williams for the Trojans on college football's biggest stage.

He played in three games at USC and helped the Trojans to wins in the 2024 Las Vegas Bowl, the 2023 Holiday Bowl, and an appearance in the 2022 Pac-12 Championship Game.

Before his time in Troy he was at Contra Costa, completing 155-of-268 passes for 1,970 yards with 22 touchdowns as a 10-game starter.

Now is his opportunity to create the same production at the D-I level.

"If you look at the whole group, they're still young. Jake is older but he's still getting incorporated into what we do. I thought he had a good spring, and he's at a stage where he needs to show he can take the next step in his development," Pease added.

"He's athletic. He's got a good, accurate arm and spins it well, but he's been a backup most places, so he's just got to show he can stay in and move the offense. He's done a good job of that and taken good, valuable reps. He's just got to be consistent play in and play out, not putting us in bad situations."

THE UP-AND-COMERS

Sophomore Gage Sliter of Kalispell will look to make his first appearance in a game this season after being more and more involved in the QB rotation at fall camp and throwing a TD for the silver team in the spring game. The Glacier High product led Montana AA football with 3,175 yards passing his senior season.

Luke Flowers of Rigby, Idaho, is in his redshirt freshman season after heading up the scout team as a true freshman last year. The three-star prospect out of high school has seen increased reps during fall camp this year after going eight of 15 passing with a 69 TD strike during the spring game.

Cody Schweikert is a redshirt freshman out of Columbia Falls that has been working in the QB room, but remains listed as an athlete on the roster as he continues to rehab an injury. He was an all-conference player on both sides of the ball with the Wildcats as a senior while helping them advance to the State A title game.

Drew Price is the newest addition to the room, joining the program as a walk-on out of high school during the summer. Price, the son of UM offensive analyst Eric Price, led Ponte Vedra to Florida 5A semifinal appearance as a sophomore, missing out on the title game by a point in double overtime.

With just under three weeks remaining in fall camp for the cream to rise to the top of the QB room, fans can bank on the Grizzly coaches continuing to evaluate each and every rep, at each and every position until the week one depth chart arrives.

And you can bet your bottom dollar they're doing it with one goal in mind: winning ballgames, as a team.

"The ultimate goal is to score touchdowns, be productive, and understand you've got good people around you. It's not necessarily about the quarterback every play, it's how you get the ball to those people. That helps us win."

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Keali'i Ah Yat

Luke Flowers

Jake Jensen

Drew Price

Cody Schweikert

Gage Sliter

Related Videos