By Andrew Holtan
The Brookings Beacon
GRAND FORKS, N.D. – No. 11 ranked North Dakota stunned top-ranked South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon at the Alerus Center as the Fighting Hawks beat the Jackrabbits 21-10.
It was SDSU’s first loss to an FCS team this season as the Jacks are now 5-2 on the year. North Dakota bounced back after a loss to Northern Iowa and is now 6-2. It was the first time that UND beat a No. 1 team in the FCS.
The Fighting Hawks jumped out to a 21-0 lead and then led 21-3 at halftime.
“We can’t start like that and expect to win a football game on the road against a really good football team,” said SDSU head coach Dan Jackson on the radio after the game. “We just need to do our job defensively. We lost our eyes on some plays, so they were able to hit their explosive plays, and then we did not hit our explosive plays.”
UND punted on its first possession and then the Jacks were turned over on downs just past midfield. Each team would punt on its second possession and then the Fighting Hawks broke the scoreless tie with 1:16 to play in the first quarter. Jerry Kaminski, who was questionable all week with an ankle injury, connected with Cameron Weir for a 35-yard touchdown to make it 7-0.
UND would double its lead on its next drive. This time it was Charles Langama and he broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 11:27 left in the first half.
SDSU would drive to UND’s 39 and faced a fourth and six. The Jacks went for it but Chase Mason’s pass was dropped by Lofton O’Groske. The Fighting Hawks would add to their lead eight plays later as Kaminski found Deng Deng wide open in the end zone to make it 21-0 with 3:54 left in the first half.
SDSU was able to get points on the board before halftime as Tristan Alvano connected on a 30-yard field goal, making it 21-3 at the break.
The Jacks scored quickly out of halftime as James Basinger took a hand off 63 yards to the house on the third play from scrimmage. That made it 21-10 with 13:35 left in the third. Those were the final points of the game but SDSU had some chances to put more points on the board.
On their next drive, the Jacks faced a third and 10 at UND’s 22. Mason threw an incomplete pass on the play but Josiah Johnson was called for an illegal block below the waist. That backed SDSU up and the Jacks ended up having to punt.
Early in the fourth quarter Mason had Smith wide open on a deep pass and the ball went through Smith’s hands. The Jacks would then have to punt.
SDSU punted again on its next drive and then Alvano missed a 46-yard field goal with 2:22 to play and that ended any chance the Jacks had of making a comeback.
The Jacks were 4-of-15 on third down and 1-of-3 on fourth down. Jackson said after the game that SDSU needs to do a better job of getting into situations where third and fourth down are more manageable.
“We just weren’t able to get into a rhythm, and then third and longs become fourth and longs at times, and that’s tough. Then you end up being in a lot of situations that aren’t advantageous for you as an offense. … WE need to be able to get into a rhythm on first and second down to stay out of those situations and just be more efficient as a whole,” Jackson said.
The Jacks outgained the Fighting Hawks 326-293. SDSU had 157 rushing yards and UND had 198.
Chase Mason, who missed the past two games with a knee injury, was 14-for-33 with 169 yards. Smith had four catches for 62 yards. Graham Goering had four catches for 47 yards. Coleman Kuntz had four catches for 29 yards.
Basinger led SDSU on the ground with 101 yards on 11 carries. Johnson had 54 yards on 17 carries.
Kaminsky was 11-for-17 with 118 yards and two touchdowns. Deng had four catches for 40 yards. Weir’s only catch was his touchdown.
The UND rushing attack was led by Matt Lawson who had 24 carries for 99 yards. Langama had 60 yards on six carries.
SDSU will return home for Hobo Day next weekend as the Jackrabbits will take on Murray State. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 2 p.m. next Saturday.
