Jensen set to go at quarterback for Bison football team

FARGO - The new lights recently installed in the Fargodome were immediately noticeable to North Dakota State sophomore Brock Jensen.

"Wow, a lot brighter," he said. "It was too dim last year."

The same could be said for Jensen as a quarterback. There were moments of power outages last year, most likely from the combination of an injured shoulder and inexperience. The Bison coaches said his completion percentage was a point of emphasis in the offseason.

So, now, here it is, three days before the season opener Saturday night against Lafayette College (Pa.) and the consensus from all involved is Jensen has made the necessary improvements.

"Significant improvement from the spring," said head coach Craig Bohl. "He's much more accurate then he was last year and I think we're catching the ball better."

Reinforcement, Bohl said, came from all of the position coaches, who said Jensen's fundamentals are improved.

"It's nice to hear coach say that," said Jensen, who had yet to hear coach say that.

Specifically, Jensen worked on accuracy, his footwork and getting a quicker throwing release with the football.

"Quickening up your drop has a lot to do with that," he said. 'And getting (his hand) to the laces as quick as you can. Just the little things like that really quickened it up."

Bohl said Jensen is not the same quarterback he was in spring football and "certainly" not the same quarterback he was last fall.

It's a different setup this year, too. Last year, Jose Mohler won the starting job in spring practice and fall camp and opened the season as the starter. Bohl switched to Jensen in the third game against Morgan State (Md.) and what followed after that was a game of switcheroo with both players being hurt at points during the rest of the season.

Mohler transferred to Division II Central Washington after last season, where this week he was the No. 2 quarterback behind a two-year starter. Jensen, meanwhile, emerged from a battle with Esley Thorton as the solid No. 1 quarterback.

Still, Jensen said this week has not been any different for him.

"I go into every game to prepare as best I can," he said. "This whole week of practice is really important. I'll take it each game at a time and that's been my mentality and that will stay the same."

Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack can be reached at (701) 241-5546. Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com/bisonmedia