GRAND FORKS UND lost in heart-breaking fashion Saturday with South Dakota State pulling off walk-off winner in overtime on third-and-8 from the 23. The No. 22 Jackrabbits came from behind to beat No. 13 UND 34-31 in front of 11, 396 at the Alerus Center. Here are five things you might’ve missed during the game. UND was technically 4-for-4 in the red zone against SDSU, but UND’s inability to punch in touchdowns was a major factor in the final outcome. Similar to UND’s loss to North Dakota State, the Hawks struggled in goal-to-go situations. UND power running back Gaven Ziebarth was dressed for the game but didn’t play. He suffered a broken collarbone against Southern Illinois on Sept. 11 and hasn’t played since the injury. Late in the first half, UND had first-and-goal at the 5 after a Nate DeMontagnac 27-yard catch. The Hawks ran twice and threw incomplete on third down. Kenten Laughman kicked a 19-yard field goal to go up 17-7. Then in the third quarter, UND was in the red zone at first-and-10 from the 18. UND couldn’t convert on third-and-4 from the 12 and settled for another Laughman field goal. “We just beat ourselves,” UND wide receiver Nate DeMontagnac said. “I think if you look at the tape throughout the year, I don’t think we could say that the other guys were beating us . with our penalties or just not executing at a high level. We know what the standard we have to play to, and just at times, we didn’t play to it.” UND has started to get banged up the last few weeks with injuries. At times against SDSU, the Fighting Hawks played two true freshmen at cornerback in Grant Noland and Evan Kludt. At wide receiver, B. J. Fleming was injured in the second half. He left the game with 3: 57 left in the third quarter and didn’t return. Fleming, a first-year transfer from Northern Arizona, still managed to catch four passes for 123 yards before his exit. UND linebacker Michael Devereaux also was injured during the game. Kicker C. J. Elrichs dressed but didn’t handle any kicks. He hasn’t played since being injured prior to UND’s game at Southern Illinois in September. UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski broke two records against South Dakota State. His 16-yard strike to Nate DeMontagnac in the fourth quarter was the 25th touchdown pass of the season, passing Danny Freund’s single-season, regular-season record of 24. The two touchdown passes against SDSU were the first two-touchdown game for Kaminski since throwing for four against Indiana State back on Oct. 25. Kaminski’s 89-yard touchdown pass to Fleming in the first quarter was UND’s longest touchdown pass in school history. The previous record was Reed Manke to Brady Trenbeath against Winona State in 2006 for 87 yards. With UND wide receiver B. J. Fleming exiting the game with an injury in the third quarter, UND saw extensive play from Deng Deng. Deng, a redshirt freshman from Four Winds High School and a native of Tokio, N. D., finished with five catches for 56 yards including a 20-yard grab. Deng hadn’t had more than one catch in any game all season previously. He was a red-zone specialist, catching four touchdown passes this year. His previous game-high yardage was 30 on a one-handed catch last Saturday against Murray State. UND entered the game as the No. 1 run defense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Jackrabbits, however, found room on the ground, especially in the first half behind the play of Julius Loughridge, who ended with 24 carries for 112 yards. As a team, SDSU ran 55 times for 202 yards. The 202 rushing yards were easily the most UND’s defense has surrendered all season. UND also hadn’t given up that many carries per game. The most rushes UND faced all season was 38 against South Dakota. UND’s previous game-high rushing total was 143 yards against both Kansas State and North Dakota State.
https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/college/5-things-you-mightve-missed-in-unds-34-31-loss-to-sdsu
