North Dakota Erases a 21-0 Hole and Buries Murray State 55-28
Murray State scored three touchdowns before the second quarter was half over. North Dakota scored the next 55 points. That is the whole game, and I am still doing the arithmetic.
Murray State had it 21-0 with 11:55 left in the second quarter, all of it on the ground: Tyrell Campbell from 8 yards, then Mykel Allen from 1 and 2. Then Jerry Kaminski found Nathan Hromadka from 26 yards out, ran one in himself from 38, and Cameron Weir took a punt back 57 yards to tie it at 21-21 with 2:36 to go in the half. Kenten Laughman kicked a 23-yard field goal with five seconds left for a 24-21 lead, and North Dakota never gave it back.
The third quarter was a demolition. Kaminski hit Tray Kuntz from 3 yards, then Weir from 17, and Charles Langama ripped off runs of 26 and 33 yards, the last with 1:19 left, to make it 52-21. Laughman added a 31-yard field goal early in the fourth for 55. Murray State got one back when Jim Ogle hit Dimitri Howard for 51 yards with 5:36 left, which fixed nothing.
The yardage says it was not close once North Dakota got going: 490 total yards to 266, and 304 rushing yards on 42 carries. North Dakota even lost two fumbles and still did not notice. Murray State managed 145 passing yards, threw one interception, lost a fumble and falls to 1-3. North Dakota moves to 5-0.
For fantasy, this was Kaminski and Langama day, with Allen the lone Murray State name to crack the top three. The first three scoring plays of the game were Allen and Campbell runs, which is exactly the kind of start that makes a 21-0 lead feel safe. It was not.