Oct. 17—GRAND FORKS — The UND football program, ranked No. 11 in the latest FCS Top 25, pulled off a stunner Saturday with a 21-10 victory over No. 1 South Dakota State at the Alerus Center.
Here are five things you might've missed during the game.
UND All-American edge Lance Rucker, who hadn't played all season due to a preseason foot injury, played for the first time against the Jackrabbits.
Rucker finished with one tackle and a game-high three quarterback pressures.
On SDSU's second drive of the game, Rucker entered for the first time. On third-and-14, Rucker was disruptive as Chase Mason threw incomplete — forcing a punt and a strong return from UND's Cam Weir.
On third-and-11 on the Jacks' next offensive drive, Rucker flushed Mason from the pocket and forced another incompletion.
"There's definitely some incomplete passes where he's breathing on the quarterback ... and he's just getting back," UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. "His play is only going to elevate as he keeps going through the late part of the year here. Just him going out there makes people feel better about our chances of being able to get a stop. Our edge guys have to be disruptors. That's what he is. I thought there were a few plays where he was right there, forcing the quarterback to throw the ball before he wanted."
UND's NCAA Division II national championship team was in attendance for the win. Schmidt was a standout linebacker for the then-Fighting Sioux.
Dale Lennon, head coach in 2001, spoke to the team this weekend. Lennon also spoke to the team prior to UND's win over North Dakota State in 2024.
"It was awesome, especially seeing Coach Lennon and hearing stories about Coach Schmidt," UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski said. "It was fun. It was a great week. You want to play, not just for the guys in the locker room, but the guys who wore the jerseys before you."
The 2001 quarterback Kelby Klosterman went out for the opening coin toss and was hugged by Schmidt before the game.
Schmidt deflected questions of the 2001 team's presence back to the 2026 journey.
"You're a week away from humility in this business," Schmidt said. "You're going to write a story in the Herald every Saturday. We're the ones who get to direct that story every single week. If there was an edge for us this week, besides not playing with any pressure on us, is that we really wanted to be a desperate football team — in a good way. They were playing without worrying about the scoreboard, just 6 seconds at a time. There was something to prove out there. The guys wearing North Dakota across their chests had a lot to prove today."
UND's offensive line made a switch in personnel against the Jacks. UND bumped guard Liam Becher out to tackle and started both Isaac Cariveau and Caleb Olson at guards.
Schmidt, however, felt his team was sparked more by attitude than personnel.
"Credit to Liam Becher," Schmidt said. "He just puts his head down and goes to work. He's one of those guys where it's whatever is best for the team he's going to do. This is a player-run deal. Coaches will set the messaging for the week and make sure we hold guys to a standard ... but it's player-run. The brotherhood that exists in there ... there's a lot of pride, and they filled out the jersey the right way today."
On UND's first drive of the third quarter, UND running back Colton Brunell went down with a lower-body injury.
Brunell finished with two carries for 1 yard but also played a key role in blocking for the quarterback run game of backup Javance Tupou-ata-Johnson.
"I don't think it's great," Schmidt said of the injury. Initially, I thought it was going to be something that wasn't as bad, but there's concern there. It could be something a little more serious.
"He's a guy who gets stronger and strong as the year goes on. He's had (injured) ankles and reoccurring things. He probably hasn't had the carries he wants this year, but I've never heard him complain. He just shows up every day and goes back to work."
UND true freshman wide receiver Delvin Cook Jr. went down with an injury during warm-ups. He was on crutches on the sideline throughout the game.
UND ultimately elected to start Jerry Kaminski at quarterback but backup Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson provided a mix of looks throughout the game and was impactful in his role.
Tupou'ata-Johnson had six carries for 34 yards.
In the second half, Tupou'ata-Johnson had three first-down runs on third down.
"Javance is a big kid, pushing 230," Schmidt said. "He plays really, really physical. We ended the game running right down the middle in the A gap. I just felt like it was a fitting conclusion to the type of day that we had — and I think Javance was a big piece of that, especially those really tough yards on third-and-1, third-and-2, third-and-3."
Kaminski credited his backup with helping his play against the Jacks.
"Javance is a high-character guy," Kaminski said. "He's just such a great teammate and a great person. He really poured into me this week. I can't thank him enough."