UND football falls in overtime to South Dakota State

GRAND FORKS The UND football team delivered another gut punch to the fan base Saturday, losing a fifth game this season by one score. Was it the knockout blow for the 2025 season? The Fighting Hawks’ postseason hopes dangle by a thread after South Dakota State’s Jack Henry found Grahm Goering in the end zone from 23 yards out on third-and-8 to win in walk-off fashion 34-31 in overtime at the Alerus Center. The 24-team FCS playoff bracket will be revealed at 11 a. m. Sunday on ESPNU (Grand Forks Ch. 320/634 HD). “Our name will up in those meetings, and I think if people really, truly dig into the resumes of teams and who’s been consistently good all year long . I think it’s going to be hard for them not to be able to say North Dakota gave North Dakota State their best game of the year. North Dakota went to Montana and really controlled the football game for a long time,” UND coach Eric Schmidt said. The Fighting Hawks won seven games this season all by at least 18 points. UND’s five losses (Kansas State, Montana, South Dakota, NDSU and SDSU) have come by a combined 17 points. “(Football is) something that we’ve been doing since we were 5 years old, 6 years old, strapping up these pads every fall,” UND senior captain Malachi McNeal said. “So to have that uncertainty if I ever put the helmet on again, you know that hurts. I’m just focused on the process and hoping that we can get another week together . another week with this brotherhood. I love these boys. I love everything they’d done for me. I love (Coach Schmidt). I’m not ready to be done yet. So just hoping that our body of work up to this point was good enough. Hopefully we can get in and get another week with these guys.” UND led South Dakota State 14-0 after the first quarter and 20-7 with 3 minutes, 54 seconds left in the third quarter after Kenten Laughman connected on a 29-yard field goal. The Jackrabbits quickly stole momentum, though. SDSU quarterback Jack Henry, playing in place of injured Jacks standout Chase Mason, faked a quarterback sweep and pulled it back before finding a wide open Greyton Gannon for a 42-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 20-14. One play later, UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski was stripped on a dropback and the Jacks recovered, setting up a short field. Two plays later, Josiah Johnson ran in from 6 yards out to claim a 21-20 lead for the Jacks. As UND’s offense went cold, the Jacks capitalized. Set up by a Henry 49-yard deep ball to Alex Bullock, the Jacks punched in a Johnson 1-yard touchdown run to take a 28-20 lead with 6: 30 to play in the fourth quarter. The Hawks answered with a game-tying drive. UND went 85 yards, capped off by Nate DeMontagnac’s 16-yard touchdown catch with 1: 52 to play. Kaminski then hit Sawyer Seidl out of the backfield for a 2-point conversion pass and a tie game. UND started with the ball in overtime. After the offense couldn’t muster much, Laughman nailed a 40-yard kick for a 31-28 lead. The Jacks’ drive became third-and-8 from the 23. UND brought an all-out blitz and flushed Henry from the pocket. Henry was able to loft a ball to the end zone for Goering to finish the game. “We didn’t get to him quick enough, and he threw a great ball,” McNeal said. “Great job by him keeping the play alive. Great catch by whoever that guy is. We’ve got to win the moment and have that killer instinct as a defense. It doesn’t matter what we did up that point or what we’ve done up that point all year . we’ve got to have a killer instinct in that moment when games like that are on the line.” UND struggled to run against the Jacks, with Seidl carrying 15 times for 33 yards. UND’s longest run of the day was 14 yards. The Jacks improved to 8-4, securing a playoff spot for the 14th year in a row. “Proud of the guys and thought they battled,” SDSU coach Dan Jackson said. “To lose four straight and continue to fight like we have with the guys we have out there . I’m really proud of them.” Kaminski finished 20-for-33 for 292 yards including an 89-yard touchdown pass to B. J. Fleming in the first quarter. The Hawks, though, were 4-for-16 on third down and settled for field goals twice in the red zone. “You look at our entire season and obviously we’ve got to do a better job at the end closing games, but you’ve got to choke our guys out in order to beat them,” Schmidt said. “They’re going to keep showing up and keep playing. I love our guys for that. I think they really embody what this place is about: tough, hard-working, caring, selfless. I love those guys for what they’ve given this place.”.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/college/und-football-falls-in-overtime-to-south-dakota-state