UND defense swarms Tennessee Tech in 31-6 playoff win

Nov. 29—COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Like the partially constructed Tucker Stadium behind the UND sideline, the Fighting Hawks' offense was a work in progress Saturday.

Early in the second half, UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski sat on the bench in a jacket surrounded by medical staff. Wide receiver B.J. Fleming stood nearby, also out with an injury.

At that point, the Hawks were in disarray.

Lance Rucker and Gaven Ziebarth saved the day.

Rucker knocked out three fumbles on Tennessee Tech quarterback Kekoa Visperas and Ziebarth put the UND ground game on solid footing as the Hawks pulled away in the fourth quarter with a 31-6 win over Tennessee Tech in the first round of the FCS playoffs.

"We've been in that position a lot all year long," UND coach Eric Schmidt said of a tight third quarter. "Really challenged the guys, like, hey, let's put it all together. Late November, and we've been battle-tested. We've been in those positions almost every single week in our league."

The Hawks won an FCS Playoff road game for the first time and won a playoff game for the first time since 2021 against Missouri State.

UND, which improved to 8-5, advances to the second round of the playoffs. The Hawks will play at Tarleton State at noon Saturday in Stephenville, Texas.

The Hawks turned a tight 10-6 lead in the third quarter into a blowout with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

The game flipped on Tennessee Tech's final drive of the third quarter when Rucker executed his third strip-sack of the game.

UND's offense countered by using Ziebarth more than it has since he was injured more than a month ago at Southern Illinois.

Ziebarth picked up runs of 7, 8 and 8 yards to start the drive. UND ended the drive with a Colton Brunell 8-yard touchdown run up the middle to push the lead to 17-6 with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter.

Ziebarth, who hadn't played since Oct. 18, finished with 11 carries for 66 yards. He scored a 3-yard touchdown on a run with 9:19 to play as UND's lead ballooned to 24-6.

"It was a long five or six weeks," Ziebarth said. "I knew we could get to this point. I knew right when we got in the playoffs, I'd be back. I was ready."

How did Ziebarth feel after receiving 11 carries for the first time since breaking his collarbone?

"Feels like nothing happened," Ziebarth said with a smile.

For much of the game, UND's offense was in a rut, though. The situation was even more troubling when Kaminski left the game after a hit to the head on a run during UND's first series of the second half.

Kaminski was struggling through the air before his injury, as well. He finished 9-for-18 for 98 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Simon Romfo, UND's 2024 starter and a third-string quarterback to start this year, came in for Kaminski and ended 4-for-8 for 48 yards.

UND's defense, though, didn't flinch even when UND's offense struggled. Rucker now has 10.5 sacks on the season after his third multi-sack game of the season.

The Hawks turned TTU quarterback Kekoa Visperas over six times. Jy Martin and Jonnie Wiltshire both collected interceptions.

"Unbelievable, right?" Schmidt said of Rucker. "If you're in Grand Forks and you want to keep Lance Rucker around, you should call the 701 Awards right now and start paying into that thing because we need to keep him in Grand Forks. You've got to love him, too. He's just about ball. He cares about ball. He cares about his teammates. The last five guys playing that position in this defense are now playing in the NFL, and Ruck has a chance to be able to be the next guy. He's twitched up. He's a handful out there."