Oct. 18—CARBONDALE, Ill. — When Sawyer Seidl scored in the third quarter Saturday against Southern Illinois, the UND running back counted off on his fingers how many touchdowns he scored against the Salukis.
One, two, three, four.
Seidl looked like a boxing official counting down a boxer who was down on the mat as he rattled off his count in the end zone.
Fitting. Seidl’s fourth touchdown was the knockout blow in No. 9 UND’s dominant 38-19 victory over No. 12 Southern Illinois in front of 5,132 at Saluki Stadium.
The Fighting Hawks won a second-straight road game for the first time since 2022 and won in Carbondale for the first time in program history.
UND improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, matching last season’s win total and improving on last season’s conference win mark.
Seidl rushed for 108 yards, his second-straight 100-yard performance and the third of his career.
“We had faith in our big boys to get those boys moving,” Seidl said.
The Hawks outrushed the Salukis 311 to 79, holding dangerous SIU quarterback D.J. Williams to a season-low 3 yards rushing.
“I thought Jerry (Kaminski) and Isaac (Fruechte) did a great job,” UND head coach Eric Schmidt said. “With as much Cover 2 as we saw, we just felt like, if they’re going rotate two-high (safeties), we were going to take what they gave us. We were able to get those first downs based off some of the things that Jerry was seeing pre-snap. I just think it all goes into your preparation. I really believe this — football this time of year is preparation and mindset.”
UND built a dominant early lead thanks to a 28-yard Seidl touchdown run, a 16-yard Seidl touchdown run and a 2-yard Kaminski touchdown run.
But the Hawks put the Salukis in a really difficult spot right before halftime.
SIU, starting at its own 1 due to a perfect punt from Luke Silvernale, threw the ball with 20 seconds left from the SIU 15.
UND safety Zach Lewis jumped the route for the interception. One play later, Seidl ran in a 21-yard touchdown to extend the lead out to 28-0 with 13 seconds to halftime.
“I was over the top the first two times they ran it, and I stayed over top,” said Lewis, a first-year transfer from Northern Arizona. “The third time, I said you’re not going to get me. He came back, did the same thing, and my team put me in the best position to make a play, so I had to go make a play.”
After SIU quickly made it 28-7 in the third quarter, the Hawks responded with a back-breaking seven-minute drive.
The steady drive ended on third-and-7 when Seidl caught a pass in the flats with wide receiver Korey Tai rubbing off Seidl’s defender, allowing Seidl to score an 11-yard touchdown catch.
Kaminski now has a touchdown pass in every game in his career, extending his season total to 18 touchdown passes to just one interception.
Kaminski finished 9-for-15 for 73 passing yards.
Instead, it was UND’s run game the Hawks didn’t veer from against the Salukis.
Seidl’s 28-yard touchdown run to start the scoring came on a third-and-8, showcasing UND’s willingness to run the ball on any down-and-distance.
The only negative from the day was UND running back Gaven Ziebarth suffering an upper-body injury on a 45-yard run in the second quarter. Ziebarth sat out the rest of the game, finishing with three carries for 53 yards.
“There’s a lot in that guy,” Schmidt said of Seidl. “We’ve really challenged him. I think in the past here, he’s been a little bit of a gadget guy. We’ve really challenged him to be able to be a three-down back to get some yards between the tackles. I think he’s just starting to scratch the surface.”
