UND football still unsure on starting quarterback role for playoff game

Dec. 1—GRAND FORKS — The UND football team will prepare this week for the FCS Playoffs with starting quarterback plans for both Jerry Kaminski and Simon Romfo.

Kaminski was injured last Saturday in the second half of a 31-6 win over Tennessee Tech in the first round of the playoffs. Kaminski, who appeared to suffer a concussion, didn't return to the game, which was finished by Romfo, the team's 2024 starter.

UND plays at Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas, at noon Saturday in the second round. The game is streamed on ESPN+.

At Monday's weekly press conference, Fighting Hawks head coach Eric Schmidt said the early signs on Kaminski are encouraging but stages of the process remain.

"He's in protocol right now," Schmidt said. "We'll see. Obviously, lots of steps have to be passed by him between now and Saturday. He's felt good. He's a competitive kid but the trainers have done a great job explaining to him about what the process looks like moving forward.

"We'll have a better gauge once he starts doing aerobic stuff and see how he responds there. But he's not dizzy. It doesn't bother him to watch film. He doesn't have a ton of symptoms at this point but he still has to be cleared by our medical staff to be able to play."

At practice, UND offensive coordinator Isaac Fruechte said Romfo and his backup Jack Sulik will receive more reps this week.

"I don't think there's a different approach; I just think that the menu is different," Fruechte said. "There are things Jerry can do that Simon can't, and vice versa. There's things that Simon can do that Jerry can't. It's just about looking at what the menu is and what Tarleton does and how we can attack them."

Kaminski, who has started every game this season, is 212-for-354 (59.9 percent) while throwing 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

UND backup quarterback Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson, a San Diego State transfer, has played in seven games this year but is out for the season with an injury.

Romfo, a Calvin, N.D., native, started 12 games last season, throwing 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Prior to Saturday, Romfo had only thrown three passes this season — all in a blowout over Valparaiso.

Romfo threw for 48 yards against Tennessee Tech and led the offense to three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.

"I'm not worried about it is the short answer," Fruechte said. "I tell the kids all the time, you're one snap away. You always have a set of plays for each quarterback that you feel confident. We have really good meetings on Thursday afternoons where pretty much everybody else is out of the building and the quarterbacks are going through 'This is my favorite here and here,' so that when we get to those situations, I know exactly what to call. I think you see that with Simon, like there was no panic with him. There was no panic with our offense or our defense. Our guys just hunkered in. It was not a very fun Saturday as an offense, to be honest. But it was fun at the end. I give a lot of credit to our kids for staying calm, staying collected and executing the plan and never panicking."