Aug. 12—GRAND FORKS — With UND football's 2026 fall camp at about the midway point, the Herald asked readers for questions about the Fighting Hawks.
Herald UND football beat reporter Tom Miller answered the questions.
Q. Who is the one sleeper on the team who deserves more attention?
A. Brody Thornton. The redshirt freshman edge out of Wisconsin is up to 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds and appears poised to be the next big thing after Lance Rucker. At camp, Thornton is constantly making me jot down a disruptive play in my daily notepad.
Q. What are you thinking about the back end of the defense?
A. It depends if I'm viewing it with the availability of Jy Martin, Avery Scott and Jonnie Wiltshire. If those guys all get the green light, UND will be strong on the back end.
Otherwise, I have questions about the nickel group although there's plenty of potential in Grant Tylutki. At safety, I'm still learning about the depth there.
We have a base of knowledge about what to expect from Tyler Erkman but his starting partner at this point is Avery Dixon, who is a first-year transfer.
Safety is a tough position to judge until the action is game live.
I think UND will be strong at corner with the addition of Ben Kamara and the development of Evan Kludt. If Scott can go, that would really solidify the corner position.
Q. Should UND be positioning itself for a jump to the FBS?
A. I believe UND should do everything it can to position itself to be an attractive option for whatever the conferences and divisions look like in 25 years. They need to lock arms with South Dakota State and the Montanas. That's good company but one more domino and the outlook changes quite a bit.
Q. Is this the best UND football team in the Division I era?
A. This team has the makeup to be the best team in the Division I era but I still have questions at wide receiver, linebacker and safety.
This team's strength at quarterback, edge and the line of scrimmage in general, though, could separate it from previous strong teams that couldn't make deep playoff runs.
Q. How does the QB room look?
A. I think UND's quarterback group is strong at the top with Jerry Kaminski and, despite some of his struggles last season, Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson, who's a strong backup in an era in which keeping a strong backup is very difficult.
Who's next, though? Who takes the reins in the post-Kaminski era? Is that 2027 or 2028? That's a tough one. I'm not sold on the rest of the group yet being ready for that label.
Tupou'ata-Johnson needs to be more consistent with touch throws and rookie Brooks Hendrickson is still building his body of work.
Q. Is there anything different with Danny 2.0 as the OC?
A. I think we'll learn that as the season goes along in terms of play-calling. I do think Danny Freund's stops at South Dakota State and Washington State have made him a more seasoned coach, in a similar vein as Eric Schmidt's seasoning between UND stops.
Q. Who do you see emerging as that fourth cornerback and the top two backups at LB?
A. If we're assuming the top three are Grant Noland, Ben Kamara and Evan Kludt, the fourth corner question is easy if Avery Scott can play. He'd be the fourth. If he doesn't get his fifth season, the first crack at the job might go to Travis Hines II, a first-year transfer from Iowa Western. Christian Davis, a true freshman once committed to Northern Illinois, will probably get an opportunity, as well.
Q. What two running backs get the most touches?
A. I actually think the carries will get spread evenly across Matt Lawson, Charles Langama and Colton Brunell — at least to start the year.
Lawson reminds me of Isaiah Smith, a natural pass-catcher and strong with the ball.
Langama has traits I'd consider special on the field, perhaps an Otis Weah UND comparison. He's low to the ground, tough to bring down and has more burst than you expect.
Brunell, meanwhile, is a steady option. He reminds me of a smaller Gaven Ziebarth or Mitch Sutton. He might not have the 70-yard scores but Brunell has a knack for finding a seam and getting a first down.
To answer the question, I'll say Lawson and Brunell but Langama could pop onto the scene in major ways, too.
Q. Who will be the offensive and defensive MVPs?
A. If everything goes to plan, and it rarely does, it's hard to see the MVPs not being Jerry Kaminski and Lance Rucker.
Q. Biggest surprise on each side of the ball in camp so far?
A. Offensively, Caleb Goodloe's rise to what I'd consider easily the No. 2 option at wide receiver right now behind Deng Deng. The Bowling Green transfer is competitive on every ball. Honorable mention to tight end Hunter Kallstrom.
On defense, I'll say Braden Mohr at edge. Mohr has had back-to-back season-ending injuries — first at Iowa State in 2024 and then Montana in 2025. I expected Mohr to be serviceable during this camp, but I've been surprised at how often he's in the backfield and at the quarterback.
Q. Is this the best depth at the line of scrimmage since covering the team?
A. That's a fair statement. UND's offensive line returns a ton of starts, with some solid options if injuries arise. As it may go, Caleb Olson and Ayden Teeter might be the backups and those two would start on a third of the FBS rosters around the country.
Defensively, you have two preseason All-Americans at edge on defense, a future star in Brody Thornton behind them and the rookie Beaver twins from Missouri are solidifying some questions of depth at nose tackle.
Q. Is there a position group ahead of schedule from expectations at fall camp?
A. The defensive tackles are a much deeper position this fall. UND returns starter Logyn Eckheart, adds Albany transfer Kylyn Macklin and Eastern Illinois transfer Kefa Pereira, returns depth help Tyler Henry and adds rookies Mason and Isaac Beaver.
That's a solid six. I wasn't entirely convinced coming into fall camp about the Beaver twins playing right away, despite the hype. But they've exceeded my expectations.
Q. Any true freshman you expect to see critical roles?
A. Outside of the previously mentioned Beaver twins, the most likely true freshman to make an early impact is linebacker Nate Appleget, who's noticeably bigger than previous UND linebacker standouts (thinking Wyatt Pedigo, Malachi McNeal) at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds from Lincoln, Neb.
UND is thin at linebacker after starters Michael Devereaux and Ethan Boll. Appleget could be in the first two-deep depth chart.
Q. Who is Mr. Memorial?
A. Braden Mohr. There are a lot of people cheering for his comeback story.
Q. Biggest breakout candidate on both sides of the ball?
A. Offense — Nathan Hromadka. Defense — Ben Kamara. Kaminski seems to have found some chemistry with the big, young tight end, while Kamara moves really smooth for a 6-foot-4 cornerback.
Q. If the Herald sports staff joined the team, what positional holes would each member fill? Who is most likely to win Newcomer of the Year?
A. I'm over 40 and quit slowpitch softball because I was sick of wrecking my shoulder and pulling my hamstrings. I'd probably have to join the kicking competition. Hockey writer Brad Schlossman is a little older than me so he might need a red jersey at practice with the quarterbacks. Alex Faber is young and pretty tall so we can get him beat up at fullback, where he wins Newcomer of the Year by default.
Q. Do we have a running package for Javance this year?
A. That's a hard thing to say during fall camp, even from my experience with previous running quarterback package types of Brock Boltmann and Quincy Vaughn. Mostly, it looks to me like quarterbacks at camps run the generic offense in similar ways, although Javance Tupou'ata-Johnson clearly has the green light to tuck it and go more than some others.
That's something that may be easier to pick up on when practice turns to game preparation.
Based on offensive coordinator Danny Freund's UND history, it seems likely Tupou'ata-Johnson will find some kind of specialized role.
Could that depend on the play of Jerry Kaminski? If everything is clicking with Kaminski, I'd imagine a coordinator is less likely to take a series or a few plays away from him.
Q. Who scores the first TD of the year?
A. Trace Thaden tackle eligible — the Matt Waletzko play at Idaho State.
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