No.5 UND Football Beats Murray State 55-28 After Early Struggles

(UND Sports Information) – No. 5/7 North Dakota overcame a slow start and cruised to its seventh straight Homecoming victory, defeating Murray State 55-28 Saturday at the Alerus Center. The win was also the 700th in program history that dates back to 1894.

The Racers jumped out a 21-0 lead, but the Fighting Hawks outscored the visitors 24-0 in the second quarter and 28-0 in the third quarter to take control.

Senior quarterback Jerry Kaminski rushed for a career-high 98 yards and a touchdown while completing 18 of 24 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Cameron Weir returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown and added a 17-yard touchdown catch, while classmate Charles Langama scored on runs of 26 and 33 yards to finish with 106 rushing yards.

The Fighting Hawks (5-1) erased that pour first quarter with a dominant performance in all three phases over the final 45 minutes to improve to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

The Racers totaled 150 yards of offense on their first three scoring drives, but the NoDak defense would allowed only 38 yards and no first downs on MSU’s next eight possessions. Meanwhile, the offense scored on nine consecutive possessions after going scoreless on its first three.

After forcing a fumble on North Dakota’s opening drive, Murray State marched 66 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown that consumed 6:02. Tyrell Campbell carried five times for 36 yards on the drive and capped it with an 8-yard touchdown run.

The Racers forced another Fighting Hawks fumble on the ensuing possession and converted it into points two plays later when Mykel Allen scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.

Murray State continued its first-half dominance by forcing a three-and-out and then assembling another scoring drive to push the lead to 21-0. Allen finished the 16-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run after the Racers drained 7:03 from the clock.

North Dakota flipped the script from there. Kaminski found Nathan Hromadka for a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the Fighting Hawks on the board and cut the deficit to 21-7.

The defense followed with a three-and-out, and Kaminski capped a three-play, 60-yard drive with a 36-yard touchdown run to make it 21-14.

Following another three-and-out, Weir tied the game at 21 with his first career special teams touchdown. His 57-yard return was North Dakota’s first punt return touchdown since 2017.

A third straight three-and-out by the Racers allowed the Fighting Hawks to take a 24-21 lead into halftime on Kenten Laughman’s 23-yard field goal. Kaminski finished the first half with a career-high 91 rushing yards.

North Dakota’s momentum carried into the third quarter as the defense stopped Murray State on a fourth-and-1 on the opening possession.

The Fighting Hawks took over at the Murray State 34-yard line, and seven plays later Kaminski connected with Tray Kuntz on a 3-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 31-21. After another three-and-out, Kaminski found Weir for a 17-yard touchdown to make it 38-21.

The North Dakota defense forced its first turnover of the game on the next possession when Grant Tylutki jarred the ball loose and Tyler Henry recovered the fumble.

Langama took the first play of the ensuing drive 26 yards for a touchdown and later added a 33-yard scoring run as the Fighting Hawks scored four third-quarter touchdowns and built a 52-21 advantage.

North Dakota consumed more than half of the fourth quarter on a drive led by reserve quarterback Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson that ended with a 31-yard field goal by Laughman to make it 55 unanswered points for the home team.

The Racers added a late touchdown on a 51-yard reception by Dimitri Howard, gaining 75 yards on that drive after managing just 38 yards across their previous eight possessions combined.

North Dakota returns to the road next Saturday for a Missouri Valley Football Conference match up at Northern Iowa. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT on ESPN+.

POSTGAME NOTES

• UND improved its lead in the all-time series vs. Murray State to 4-0 and won the 700th game in program history.
• The victory marks the seventh straight Homecoming victory for the Fighting Hawks, who are now 71-32-4 all-time in 107 Homecoming contests.
• The Fighting Hawks lost just two fumbles in the first five games before losing two in the first quarter against the Racers.
• Kaminski rushed 10 times for a career-high 98 yards – the last UND quarterback to rush for 100 yards was Keaton Studsrud, who had 107 rushing yards in a 19-17 win at Portland State in 2015 (Oct. 3).
• Hromadka set a new career-high in receptions with four in the first half, including a 26-yard touchdown. He finished the contest with four receptions for 38 yards.
• Weir’s 57-yard punt return for a touchdown was the first for the program since John Santiago had a 64-yarder in a 48-21 victory at Portland State in 2017 (Oct. 28).
• Weir, who finished with a career-high five receptions, added a 17-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter to give him back-to-back games with multiple touchdowns.
• Langama posted the first two-touchdown game of his career, scoring on runs of 26 and 33 yards in the third quarter. He finished with his second 100-yard rushing game of the campaign, toting the ball eight times for 106 yards.
• Henry Theobald recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter for the Fighting Hawks.
• Braden Mohr registered a sack and increased his MVFC-lead in that category to 5.5.

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