MISSOULA, Montana — Keali’i Ah Yat will be the first to admit that he has a long way to go to catch up to his father, a former Walter Payton Award finalist and Big Sky champion at Montana.
Keali’i Ah Yat showed flashes of his overall talent, particularly his athleticism, as a true freshman during Montana’s run to the 2023 national title game, a spurt that included UM’s first Big Sky Conference title since 2009. Clifton McDowell was the man for most of the 10-game winning streak that saw the Griz reach heights unseen since Bobby Hauck’s first tenure (2003-2009) in Missoula.
Those KAY flashes had the masses believing that the next Ah Yat would be the next great Ah Yat. Brian Ah Yat was a three-time All-Big Sky performer who was a two-time league MVP and a two-time All-American between 1995 and 1998 at Montana. Brian rolled up almost 10,000 total yards after having the unenviable task of taking over as the Griz quarterback following Dave Dickenson, the Walter Payton Award winner after leading UM’s run to the 1995 national title.
Years later, when Keali’i was moving and grooving in spot snaps as a true freshman, Griz faithful realized quickly that he is nowhere close to the same style of a pocket, spread offense passing dynamo like his father. But his innate instincts and his ability to challenge defenses with his legs are two of a collection of factors that helped spark a hype machine around Missoula and among UM followers.
“I developed it (style & athleticism) in high school, not early on, but my senior year, I got comfortable using my legs,” Ah Yat said on the Grizzly Insider TV show filmed on October 31 of last year. “I can run better than my dad, but he still says I have a lot to catch up on. And I agree with that. So I have to keep getting better at throwing.”
Keali’i looked the part all day in his three games of action as a true freshman in 2023, completing 68 percent of his passes for 271 yards, including a touchdown against Northern Colorado. He also looked sharp while completing 6-of-7 passes against South Dakota State in UM’s 28-3 national championship game loss.
Last season, Ah Yat endured several spats of adversity primarily spurred on by getting hurt while setting a school record for QBs when he rushed in four touchdowns in a home loss to Weber State. After that ding, Ah Yat was up and down partly due to health and partly due to splitting time with Logan Fife.
In the off-season, Fife transferred to New Mexico State, where he’s slated to be the starter. For almost every single one of his 14 seasons guiding Montana, Hauck has brought in a transfer, mostly from the FBS ranks.
Most of those quarterbacks — Ochs, Josh Swogger, Dalton Sneed, Lucas Johnson and McDowell — have won the starting jobs. Others like Bergquist and Selle endured quarterback competitions against transfers only to win out and lead the Griz on deep playoff runs.
This season is no different. Hauck signed former USC and BYU quarterback Jake Jensen after last year’s 9-5 campaign came to an end. Most of the practices during fall camp, Jensen worked with the No. 2 and No. 3 offenses.
Part of the hype behind Ah Yat comes from his name. Part of it comes from his natural charisma. And part of it comes from the opinion that at least a portion of Griz nation shares: that a quarterback who develops and starts for multiple years within a program is the most tried and true formula in the Football Championship Subdivision for sustained success.
Just ask North Dakota State, who has sent Brock Jensen, Carson Wentz, Easton Stick, Trey Lance and Cam Miller to the NFL after recruiting all of them out of high school.
Just ask Montana State, who has won two of the last three Big Sky championships and played in two of the last four national title games with the same kid from Butte, Montana (Tommy Mellott) playing quarterback.
Just ask South Dakota State, who eliminated the Griz from the playoffs two years in a row behind the talents of four-year starter Mark Gronowski, a tough, steady player who also led SDSU to consecutive national titles in 2022 and 2023.
Despite Ah Yat’s up and downs last season — and regardless of what spurred them (injury, quarterback competition, roster turmoil) — you must forgive anyone who’s watched the Griz practice over the last month or so who is excited for Ah Yat’s prospects heading into his third season of college football.
In the five practices Skyline Sports has been able to observe, Ah Yat looks like the front-runner to be Montana’s starter even with the off-season addition of Jensen and the fact that redshirt freshman Luke Flowers looks like one of the more improved players on the team.
Ah Yat has looked decisive, confident and like he has an elevated sense of maturity. He gets the ball out quickly. He seems to have a command of Brent Pease’s offense. And he’s taken the bulk of the reps behind the first-team offensive line, a strong indicator of his standing on the depth chart, although Montana will not announce one until this week.
“Just slowing things down in my mind,” said Ah Yat, who put on eight pounds to check in at 200 entering this season, following the first day of fall camp. “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.”
Brian Ah Yat sat for a season behind arguably the best quarterback in the history of the Big Sky Conference, then took over for one of the most talented Griz teams of all time. If it wasn’t for Randy Moss (and Troy Brown, and Eric Kresser and Billy Lyon) and an undefeated Marshall Thundering Herd team that destroyed the Griz in Chattanooga, Montana might’ve won back-to-back national titles and Brian Ah Yat might be seated at the right hand of the Father of Montana football.
Instead, Brian occupies a group of Dickenson QB decedents that includes Drew Miller, Craig Ochs, Cole Bergquist, Andrew Sell and McDowell, each who quarterbacked Montana to national runner-up finishes, none of whom won national championships.
Although he didn’t win the big one, Brian Ah Yat is one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Griz and Big Sky history. That production and his exciting style that captivated fans helped build an anticipation around Keali’i before he ever arrived on campus despite pedestrian high school statistics and almost no winning success.
Keali’i threw 19 touchdowns in two seasons as the starter at Kamehameha High. He team won three games in his 14 starts, including none his senior year. But his final high school game in 2022, he threw for 346 yards and rushed for 53 more yards in a 42-30 loss.
Those in the know would tell you that the All-Hawaii Open Division is a very high level of high school football. The division produces tons of Division I talent, including Keali’i Ah Yat.
When he first signed with the Griz, some hoped he would be the second coming of his father, others wondered if Pease and the offensive staff took a flyer on a kid because of his last name given his lack of high school success.
Most of the doubters at least had to pause when Ah Yat threw strikes and showed improvisational talents in each of his three college appearances. He looked far from polished for most of the first half of last season, but his talent, while sporadic, was undeniable to anyone watching moderately closely.
A collection of factors went into Ah Yat not settling back in as UM’s full-time guy until last year’s second round playoff loss at South Dakota State. Despite his emotional volatility, Fife was a talented player who had good chemistry with senior play-makers like Junior Bergen, Keelan White and Nick Ostmo, which is an underrated factor when it came to Ah Yat’s inconsistent opportunities.
Hauck ignited the fan base in 2023 when he said before the season his team planned on using two quarterbacks unless one “took control and made himself the guy.” McDowell did that, leaving Sam Vidlak as a footnote in Griz history while leading UM on one of its most memorable runs.
Last season, that did not happen. And the prospects of another quarterback carousel are dizzying.
It’s only been three weeks since Montana opened fall camp, but it appears Ah Yat is determined to take control. If he can and he is able to elevate his play to an all-conference level, a Griz team with eight home games on hits schedule has a chance to make another deep run into December and beyond.
“Of course it feels more comfortable with two years under my belt now, so got that experience,” Ah Yat said. “I’m just trying to take that step being a leader and just helping other guys out.”
