GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 11/15 North Dakota football returned to the win column Saturday afternoon with a dominant 49-21 victory over Illinois State at the Alerus Center.
The Fighting Hawks' (7-4, 4-3 MVFC) 28-point victory over Illinois State (7-3, 3-3 MVFC) serves as the largest win over an FCS top-10 ranked team in program history. It also marks back-to-back seasons beating a top 10 team by 25 points, with last year's 31-6 tally coming on Nov. 29 at Tennessee Tech in the opening round of the FCS playoffs.
NoDak put the game away with a 21-0 run in the second quarter as the offense opened the contest with five consecutive touchdown drives. The Fighting Hawks out gained the Redbirds by more than 100 yards of total offense, totaling 437 on the day to ISU's 308. UND's defense forced two fumbles and recovered both, including one during a goal line stand in the third quarter.
Senior quarterback
Jerry Kaminski accounted for six of North Dakota's seven touchdowns, tying his personal best single-game performance with five touchdown passes. He added another score on the ground. In the game, Kaminski reset his own program record for most regular season touchdown passes, now sitting at 27 for the year with one game remaining before postseason action.
Kaminski, who finished 18-for-27 for 293 yards through the air, also surpassed 50 career passing touchdowns, becoming only the fourth UND quarterback to exceed that plateau.
The NoDak defense gave the home team the momentum early, forcing a turnover on Illinois State's second play of the game. Kaminski and company would turn that miscue into a touchdown to put the Hawks ahead early 7-0. Cornerback
Grant Noland forced the fumble and eight plays later Kaminski found
Tray Kuntz from two yards out for the game's first score.
The Kuntz touchdown would spark a back-and-forth opening 15 minutes that saw both squads score a pair of touchdowns. Redbird quarterback Beckham Pellant would connect with Mar'Quan Gary on a 31-yard scoring strike to even the score at 7-7.
The Fighting Hawks would regain the lead when
Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson scored on a three-yard run during a drive that featured a 27-yard diving catch from
Sam Strandell. The Redbirds would have an answer as Victor Dawson would add a four-yard touchdown run to pull the visitors square at 14-14.
The second quarter belonged to the Hawks, however, as they ripped off three straight touchdown drives that Kaminski capped with scoring passes to build a 35-14 lead by halftime.
Kaminski's 50th career touchdown would put his squad back in the lead as he found
Korey Tai from seven yards out to make it a 21-14 contest. The UND defense would force the Redbirds' to punt for the first time and the offense quickly turned that drive into a touchdown.
After Kaminski opened the drive with an incomplete pass, he would find a wide open
Hunter Kallstrom on the next play and the junior tight end would turn that reception into an 80-yard gain to set up the Hawks' at the ISU two-yard line. From there,
Mason South would haul in a two-yard pass from his signal called to double UND's lead to 28-14.
UND would force another ISU punt and this time, the snap sailed over the head of Hayden Futch, who would illegally kick the ball out of the back of the end zone, which resulted in a penalty and UND taking over at the three-yard line.
A false start penalty backed UND up five yards, but Kaminski would connect with
Deng Deng from eight yards out to give NoDak a three-touchdown advantage going into the break.
The Fighting Hawks would keep the momentum after the break as Strandell hauled in a career-long, 44-yard reception to set up a 1-yard plunge by Kaminski on the opening drive to extend the home team's advantage to 42-14.
ISU would create its first turnover of the game when Tupou'ata-Johnson fumbled on a drive midway through the second quarter. The Redbirds' offense would move down the field, getting all the way to the UND one-yard line but
Mike Devereaux would force Dawson to fumble and
Tyler Henry would recover to keep the score at 42-14.
Illinois State would only get the ball two more times after North Dakota's goal line stand, but it would capitalize the next time in its first possession in the fourth. Pellant found Nick True on slant in the end zone for his second touchdown toss of the day.
As they did after every time the Redbirds scored, the Fighting Hawks would respond by scoring themselves. UND embarked on a 12-play, 83-yard drive that shaved over seven minutes from the game. Kaminski found Deng on a curl route, which he would break free of the defense to score his second of the day and give Kaminski his fifth passing touchdown of the game.
No team would threaten again as the clocks hit zero with UND snapping a two-game skid with the 28-point trouncing.
North Dakota will be on its bye next week and return to action on Nov. 21 at home against Southern Illinois. Kickoff against the Salukis is set for 1 p.m. CT.
POSTGAME NOTES
- With the win, the Fighting Hawks are now 4-1 all-time against Illinois State and the 28-point margin of victory was the largest in the brief history of the series
- UND is now 9-26 against top-10 opponents and the 28-point margin of victory is the program's largest in those contests
- With his second touchdown pass of the game, Jerry Kaminski became the fourth UND quarterback to reach 50 in that category during his career
- Kaminski would later tie his single-season record for touchdown passes with his 25th to Korey Tai, then break that record with his 26th to Mason South – his fourth of the opening half
- Kaminski finished 18-for-27 for 293 passing yards to go with five touchdown passes and six total touchdowns, which tied his career-high in both categories
- Hunter Kallstrom's 80-yard reception was the longest offensive play of the season by a Fighting Hawk and longest reception of his career
- Sam Strandell had two receptions for 71 yards, including a career-long 44-yarder to set up the opening score of the second half
- Deng Deng would record the first multiple-touchdown game of his career, securing two scoring grabs from Kaminski. He finished with four catches for 81 yards, which included a career-long 41-yard reception
- Mike Devereaux finished with a career-high 13 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass break-up to pace the UND defense
- With 1.5 sacks, senior edge Braden Mohr equaled UND's regular season record with 10, tying current head coach Eric Schmidt (2001). Current teammate Lance Rucker holds the overall record of 11.5 that he set in 2025
- Grant Noland added one pass break-up to his growing UND single-season record and FCS-leading total, pushing it to 17
How It Happened
First Quarter
10:41 – UND |
Tray Kuntz 2-yard pass from
Jerry Kaminski (
Kenten Laughman kick). 8 plays, 31 yards, 3:41
8:23 – ISU | Mar'Quan Gary 31-yard pass from Beckham Pellant (Michael Cosentino kick). 4 plays, 43 yards, 2:06
4:55 – UND |
Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson 3-yard rush (Laughman kick). 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:28
00:58 – ISU | Victor Dawson 4-yard rush (Cosentino kick). 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:57
Second Quarter
12:59 – UND |
Korey Tai 7-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 9 plays, 75 yards, 2:59
9:27 – UND |
Mason South 2-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 3 plays, 82 yards, 00:58
7:51 – UND |
Deng Deng 8-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 1 play, 3 yards, 00:05
Third Quarter
13:16 – UND | Kaminksi 1-yard rush (Laughman kick). 5 plays, 56 yards, 1:35
Fourth Quarter
12:38 – ISU | Nick True 5-yard pass from Pellant (Cosentino kick). 8 plays, 52 yards, 3:09
5:18 – UND |
Deng Deng 19-yard pass from Kaminski (Laughman kick). 12 play, 83 yards, 7:25
For more information on North Dakota Football, visit FightingHawks.com or follow on social media
@UNDFootball.
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