UND, banged-up Jerry Kaminski blast Illinois State 49-21
· Yahoo Sports
Nov. 7—GRAND FORKS — UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski didn't finish the 2025 season as strong as he started the year.
As Fighting Hawks coach Eric Schmidt said, Kaminski hit a wall.
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On Saturday, against a fourth-straight Top 10 opponent, Kaminski — hobbled with another injury that left his playing status in doubt throughout the week — kicked down any wall that stood between the senior and a strong finish to 2026.
Kaminski threw for five touchdowns, ran for another and broke his own UND single-season touchdown passes record en route to the No. 11 Fighting Hawks' 49-21 win over No. 10 Illinois State in front of 10,046 at the Alerus Center.
"Your offense takes on the personality of your quarterback, and Jerry Kaminski is as tough as a player as I've been around," UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. "You know he's playing through a lot of pain and discomfort right now. You sit there during the week, and you're like, 'How many reps do we give the other guy?' ... can he go? can't he? He just continues to find a way to answer the bell and play really, really well.
"He's just gotten better and better and better. Not only from last year to this year, but as the year has gone along ... I think you saw it last year — he might have hit the wall a little bit. This time of year, he's continued to grind through this thing and to continue to get better. I just feel like his toughness and his leadership when he's on the field, it affects our entire team. Everybody believes that we can win a football game as long as we have Jerry Kaminski on the field."
Kaminski finished 18-for-27 for 293 yards.
"Just trying to fight through things like everyone else is on the team," said Kaminski, who now has 27 touchdown passes on the season. "You're in Week 11, no bye week. Everyone's going to be feeling a little bit of discomfort. It's easy when you go to work with these guys every day. You want to play for the guys."
The Hawks improved to 7-4 and are through the gauntlet of South Dakota State, South Dakota, Youngstown State and Illinois State. After a bye week, UND finishes the regular season at home against Southern Illinois.
After back-to-back heart-breaking road losses, UND let out some frustration in the second quarter on the Redbirds, who gave up more than 31 points for the first time all season.
UND and Illinois State were tied at 14 after the first quarter. The Hawks took a 21-14 lead early in the second with the help of a tipped pass on third-and-7. Kaminski's pass over the middle was tipped high in the air before Korey Tai brought it in with one hand for a 6-yard gain.
After picking up fourth-and-1, Kaminski found Tai for a 7-yard touchdown pass.
The Hawks' defense then forced a punt. Two plays later, Kaminski took advantage of a Redbird blitz and found tight end Hunter Kallstrom all alone for an 80-yard passing play. On the next play, fullback Mason South reeled in a 2-yard touchdown catch for a 28-14 lead.
The South touchdown tied Kaminski's passing touchdown total from last season at 25. He also became the fourth quarterback in UND history to throw for more than 50 touchdowns.
The Hawks cranked up the pressure with a three quick three-and-out against ISU. On the punt attempt, the snap sailed punter Hayden Futch, who then tried to boot the ball out of the back of the end zone.
The play was flagged for illegal kicking to set up UND at first-and-goal. On first down, Kaminski connected with Deng Deng in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown and a 35-14 advantage.
Deng finished with four catches for 81 yards and two touchdowns.
"He's just a leader," UND wide receiver Sam Strandell said of Kaminski. "He even calms me down. I'll come back to the huddle, and he'll just tell me to relax. He's somebody I trust."
The Hawks essentially iced the win with a strong start to the second half. UND opened the third quarter with the ball. After a 43-yard kick return by Charles Langama, Kaminski found Strandell for a 44-yard gain, which added a facemask penalty on Illinois State.
On third-and-goal from the 1, Kaminski ran a quarterback sneak for a touchdown and a 42-14 lead.
Strandell said the loss last Saturday at Youngstown State in which the Hawks lost on fourth-and-19 made UND hungry against Illinois State.
"If anything, it made us starving to get out there because we knew we left stuff out during the past two weeks that would have changed the game," Strandell said. "We came back and prepared and got better. We're growing every single week to get better. By the end of the season, we're playing our best ball in the biggest games."
UND shut down Illinois State's run game, as the Redbirds had 69 yards on 29 carries. Illinois State quarterback Beckham Pellant was 24-for-42 for 239 yards and was sacked four times.
UND edge Braden Mohr had 1.5 sacks to tie Schmidt's single-season sack record of 10.0 that Schmidt achieved in 2001 en route to a NCAA Division II national title.
"It's really special how we've come together and just want to work together," Mohr said. "We know everything's still ahead of us. All the guys are super excited about that ready to attack the rest of the season."