Oct. 12—GRAND FORKS — UND quarterback Jerry Kaminski, who was injured in the second half of the Fighting Hawks’ loss last Saturday at Northern Iowa, is considered week-to-week with an ankle injury, Fighting Hawks head coach Eric Schmidt said Monday.
“We tried to X-ray the thing at the game and weren’t able to get a clean picture off it,” Schmidt said. “We don’t think there’s anything in there, but until we get the medical report this afternoon, then we’ll know more as far as what his status will be this week.”
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Kaminski was injured as he scrambled near the goal-line against the Panthers. As he made his way toward the end zone, Kaminski was hit by a defender and remained on the turf as UND’s medical staff came to his side.
“He was going to throw the ball there, then decided to tuck it down and go … tried to put a little bit of a move on a guy when he got off-balance, then just how he stepped off-balance … I think the ball was down inside the 1 on that play, and he just kind of turned his ankle as he was doing that,” Schmidt said. “It wasn’t like somebody was grabbing or pulling on it or anything like that. He just, in the midst of the play, trying to get the ball over the goal-line and him being a little off-balance … I think that was a combination of how he got hurt.”
Even before the injury, UND’s offense struggled against Northern Iowa. Kaminski finished 16-for-35 with two interceptions. His 152-yard total was the lowest this season against FCS competition. His 45.7 completion percentage was also the lowest of the season. It was the first game this season Kaminski failed to throw a touchdown pass.
For the season, Kaminski is now 137-for-204 with 19 touchdowns to four interceptions. He’s thrown for 1,626 yards, while rushing for 310 yards and three touchdowns.
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With Javance Tupou’ata-Johnson entering the game for the Hawks after the injury, the backup quarterback scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. After that play, however, Tupou’ata-Johnson couldn’t engineer a game-tying or game-winning touchdown drive on the team’s next three chances in the fourth quarter.
Tupou’ata-Johnson has played in six games this season, mainly coming into lopsided scores. He’s 5-for-17 passing for 94 yards with two interceptions. He has 17 carries for 99 yards and three touchdowns.
The former San Diego State transfer was 2-for-9 against Northern Iowa for 29 yards, which included a 23-yard connection with Deng Deng.
Tupou’ata-Johnson was 3-for-6 for 65 yards while playing in the second half against Long Island earlier this season.
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He made one start and appeared in four games at San Diego State in 2024. He was 20-for-39 passing for 222 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while with the Aztecs.
The Fighting Hawks, who dropped from No. 4 to No. 11 in the FCS Top 25 poll on Monday, host No. 1-ranked South Dakota State at the Alerus Center at 1 p.m. Saturday.
