MISSOULA — Montana’s prized young quarterback will explore other options.
Griz quarterback Gresch Jensen, a Freshman All-American last fall, was granted his transfer release by first-year Griz head coach Bobby Hauck on Monday morning.
“We think Gresch is a great guy, and hope good things happen for him. We appreciate his efforts at Montana, and we will help him any way we can in the future,” Hauck said in a UM press release.
After careful consideration and meeting with the staff, I have decided to pursue other opportunities. I would like to thank the University of Montana, my teammates, fans, staff, and equipment/media personnel for an incredible two years. I look forward to the next chapter.
— Gresch Jensen (@GreschJensen) April 23, 2018
Jensen broke into the lineup for the Grizzlies in the second quarter of UM’s final non-conference game against Savannah State when senior Reese Phillips went down with a grotesque ankle injury. Jensen made his first career start the following week in UM’s Big Sky Conference opener, throwing for 358 yards and two touchdowns in UM’s 48-41 home loss to Eastern Washington in which the Griz gave up 42 second-half points.
The Auburn, Washington native then led the Griz on a three-game winning streak. He threw for 284 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in Montana’s 45-33 win at Portland State. He threw for 360 yards and four touchdowns in a 39-31 win at Idaho State. Jensen’s production operating former head coach Bob Stitt’s spread offense peaked with a 423-yard, three touchdown performance in Montana’s 41-17 homecoming win over a decimated crew from North Dakota.
By the end of his first year at the helm for Montana, Jensen had throw for 2,531 yards and 20 touchdowns, earning a spot on Jerry Rice Award ballot given to the top freshman in the Football Championship Subdivision. Jensen finished third in the voting and earned first-team Freshman All-American honors at quarterback from Hero Sports.
Jensen suffered a concussion late in Montana’s 41-27 loss at Big Sky champion Weber State when his head slammed off the Stewart Stadium turf, capping a dismal day that saw UM turn the ball over five times, including three interceptions thrown by Jensen. He missed the following game against Northern Arizona. In Jensen’s place, senior Makena Simis moved back to quarterback — he played most of his final season at inside receiver — and rushed for 101 yards in a 19-17 win over No. 9 NAU aided by Lumberjacks’ QB Case Cookus’ ejection. The victory kept the Grizzlies’ playoff hopes alive for another week.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Jensen returned the next week to throw for 228 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-14 win over Northern Colorado in Montana’s home finale. The game would prove to be his final victory leading the Griz in his final performance at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Jensen threw for 326 yards and a touchdown, a 32-yard strike to Keenan Curran with 5:25 left, but Montana could not rally in a 31-23 loss to Montana State in Bozeman, MSU’s first victory over its rival at home since 2005. The loss capped a 7-4 campaign for the Griz and led to the non-renewal of Stitt’s contract after three seasons at the helm. Montana missed the FCS playoffs for consecutive years for the first time since 1992.
(1/2) Coach Stitt will always have a big place in my heart. Taught me so much about football and life. People don't see all he did to help make this program so great. Wish we had more time together, we were on the way to something special. All the best for him and his family.
— Gresch Jensen (@GreschJensen) November 21, 2017
(2/2) Such a great person and mentor. Thank you for believing in me and our team. Helped pave the way for us to be great. We are going to miss you and appreciate everything you did for us. You'll always be in our thoughts. Love ya coach! @CoachBobStitt
— Gresch Jensen (@GreschJensen) November 21, 2017
In December, Montana hired Hauck for his second stint at the helm for the Griz. Hauck coached his alma mater from 2003 until 2009 before taking the same position at UNLV. Hauck hired former UNLV offensive coordinator Timm Rosenbach, the OC at Montana in 2012, as his offensive play caller. Rosenbach spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons at UNLV with Hauck. The duo recruited Dalton Sneed from Phoenix to Vegas but were forced out in the Nevada desert before Sneed arrived in Sin City. In 2016, Sneed cracked the starting lineup for five games for the Rebels before he too fell out of favor. He played last year at Fort Scott Community College before Hauck and Rosenbach added him as a transfer in January.
During the first 15 spring football practices under Hauck in March and April, Sneed matched Jensen before seeming to overtake him on the depth chart. In Montana’s spring game, Sneed led the starting offense on to the field for the first three possessions, including an 11-play, 65-yard drive on the opening possession.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound dual-threat completed 13 of his 16 passing attempts for 136 yards and a touchdown to Curran. Montana ran 75 plays for 439 yards, including 362 yards through the air. Jensen had long completions of 36 yards to Sammy Akem setting up one of Alijah Lee’s two touchdowns and a 50-yard touchdown strike to Samori Toure. Jensen also threw an interception that was snared by redshirt freshman Michael McGinnis
Sneed is one of two quarterbacks on Montana’s current roster along with first-year freshman Tanner Wilson of Polson. The Grizzlies will also add Eureka standout Garrett Graves to the quarterback ranks in the summer.
Montana’s players report back for summer workouts on May 29.
“It falls on the quarterback a lot,” Sneed said following the spring game earlier this month. “Gresch and I will get the team together. And all the seniors, we have Keenan in the wide receiver group, you haven’t seen (running back) Jeremy (Calhoun) a lot since he’s injured but he’s another senior. We will get everybody who is going to be our leaders and get the players going. Once you get the players involved and the players run the practices through the leaders, there’s no better team than can run itself.”
The starter for Montana’s season opener on September 1 against Northern Iowa will be the sixth different starting quarterback for the Grizzlies since the beginning of the 2016 season, joining Brady Gustafson, Chad Chalich, Reese Phillips, Simis and Jensen.
Photos by Lacey Young, Jason Bacaj and Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.