5 things you might've missed in UND's 31-28 loss at Youngstown State
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 31—GRAND FORKS — The UND football program lost 31-28 at Youngstown State on Saturday as the Penguins scored a touchdown with 2 minutes, 4 seconds to go on fourth-and-19.
Here are five things you might have missed during the game.
Visit chickenroad-game.rodeo for more information.
UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski has earned a reputation as a dual-threat quarterback but Kaminski pulled off a triple-threat against Youngstown.
Kaminski caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson, ran in an 11-yard run and threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Haydn Stay.
Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard also pulled off the hat trick last season against Murray State.
The touchdown reception was Kaminski's first of his career. Tupou'ata-Johnson and Kaminski had yet to be on the field at the same time this season.
On the play, Tupou'ata-Johnson faked a run up the middle and quickly whipped a swing pass to Kaminski, who had leaked out the side wide open.
That wasn't the only trick play of the sequence. After the Kaminski touchdown catch, UND ran a trick play on the extra point. Wide receiver Korey Tai, who played quarterback in high school, lined up like he was going to hold for the extra point. He popped up and took a shotgun snap and threw to long-snapper Sam Kline in the end zone for a 2-point conversion.
UND sophomore cornerback Grant Noland is now the program's all-time leader in pass breakups in a season.
Noland broke up a fourth-down pass early in the game to register his 15th break-up of the regular season, surpassing Mike Compton's 14 in 1977.
With two pass break-ups against Youngstown, Noland also took over the all-time record for a season, which includes postseason stats.
UND's previous record-holder for a season including the postseason was Dustin Thornburg, who had 15 in UND's run to the Division II national championship in 2001.
UND struggled in what coaches often call the middle-eight of the game — the final four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
Leading 21-7, UND was threatening late in the first half to take a three-score lead. A 36-yard pass to Korey Tai put the Hawks in the red zone with about 90 seconds left.
After throwing incomplete at third-and-7 from the 15, UND kicker Kenten Laughman had a low-line kick blocked from 32 yards with 37 seconds to halftime.
Laughman also missed an extra point on UND's first touchdown after a false start forced a slightly longer attempt.
Kaminski's second play of the second half was then intercepted after a tip at the line of scrimmage, which set up a short field for the Penguins to score to make it 21-14.
UND defensive back Jy Martin was unavailable against Youngstown State after losing in county court late this week as he was battling the NCAA for a fifth season of eligibility.
Without Martin, UND utilized a mix of Avery Dixon and nickel Grant Tylutki at safety.
The Penguins targeted the area as YSU top receiver Lynn Wyche-El, a transfer from Grand Valley State, finished with six catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns.
"We've obviously had a lot of different guys out there again today with different things that have gone on, especially in the secondary," UND coach Eric Schmidt said.
UND rode the play of its offensive line early in the game, highlighted by a 19-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that took 8 minutes, 55 seconds off the clock.
That drive was capped off by Kaminski's 9-yard touchdown catch from backup Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson.
"I think the the one thing that we've got to continue to work on is making sure that that we continue to go to our strengths," Schmidt said. "I think (the offensive line) really took it upon themselves today that, hey, we're going to move the football on the ground. Moving the football consistently on the ground is something that we want to continue to hang our hat on. I think there's been some improvement there. It needs to continue here moving forward."
UND ran the ball 36 times for 163 yards at 4.5 yards per carry. Matt Lawson led the way with 17 carries for 99 yards, while Kaminski chipped in 10 carries for 44 yards. Charles Langama had nine carries for 20 yards and a touchdown.