'That one day' arrives for QB Schweikert
Cody Schweikert could be forgiven for getting down during his two-plus seasons with the University of Montana football program. It was a large quarterback room that he joined and the Columbia Falls product, fresh off an appearance in the 2023 State A championship, got off to a late start because of a torn ACL suffered during UM practices. Up until this spring, most of the reps for Schweikert were mental.
“I was definitely a little bit down,” he said last Friday, after throwing for 119 yards in Montana’s Maroon-Silver spring game. “But my teammates supported me more than anything, and my coaches believed in me and told me, ‘Just work your butt off. ’ “And of course my family always supported me, and I had God to help me.
” The rest, one supposes, is up to Schweikert. “You just have to have confidence in yourself even though you’re looking around and thinking, ‘God, these guys are so great,’ “ he said, smiling. “You have to have the confidence to just know that one day you’ll be there.
” Keali’i Ah Yat, who as a sophomore became Montana’s first first-team All-Big Sky quarterback since Craig Ochs in 2004, will presumably be healthy this fall after being sidelined early in spring drills. So maybe Friday was Schweikert’s one day. Or maybe there will be many more.
He did perform well, as did Glacier product Gage Sliter, who threw for 113 yards in the scrimmage. But while Sliter has been listed as a QB, Schweikert’s has been as an “ATH” the whole time — including on the rosters handed out Friday. This can be a tough business.