Saturday was Senior Day for the UND football team, and on a day where the players and fans honored the leaders of the team, one senior stood out above the rest.

In a year where the UND corps of running backs has been absolutely ravaged by injuries, senior Jer Garman has stepped up to the challenge of being the starting running back.

Not only has he embraced the position, but has truly made a difference.

Garman ran for 238 yards on 28 carries for the day. He also would tack on two touchdowns for the day, being the spark for UND’s offense.

UND defeated Northern Arizona, 30-28.

“I don’t know, the O-Line, something’s clicking,” Garman said. “High school mojo, kind of feeling like you have one good game and then you’re like, ‘I got some mojo, I feel good,’ and I guess that’s what it is. I’m feeling good out there and they’re opening up holes and it keeps building and you keep getting better and better.”

His mojo has been cooking the last couple of weeks, as Garman has been the prime focus in the run-heavy rushing attack.

UND would need every yard of Garman’s big day, as Northern Arizona, the No. 5 team in the Big Sky Conference, came into town.

Per usual of the Green and White at home, this game would be an absolute heart stopper.

UND may have been heavily considered to be the underdog, but the Green and White rushed out to a 24-7 lead, with two rushing scores by Garman and another rush by UND quarterback Keaton Studsrud.

The second half would play out a little differently, though.

Northern Arizona came out of halftime swinging and looked like the 22nd ranked team that it is. The Lumberjacks scored two touchdowns unanswered in the third quarter, making things uncomfortable for the Alerus Center crowd.

In the fourth, Northern Arizona would take the 28-27 lead, and it seemed like the Green and White would continue the losing streak.

But then the offense would put together one of the most impressive drives it has had all season.

UND’s play calling was heavily pass heavy all day, but on the last drive, the coaches chose to trust their freshman quarterback to get them where they needed to go. With nice completions to Josh Seibel and Tyrhe Ivery, UND was marching down the field, all capped off with a 14 yard rush by Garman to put UND in field goal range.

Reid Taubenheim did the rest and booted the game winning field goal through the uprights.

“I was impressed with that last drive,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. “To see a young guy make some plays, then see the O-Line protect him and then have Reid hit the kick was outstanding.”

On Senior Day, UND showed while the team was down, it had enough heart to not only play competitively with a superior team, but had the heart to win.

“I’m so proud of our guys to hang with it,”  Schweigert said. “That’s a hard way to win when you are up, then get down. But it’s a good learning lesson.”

Alex Stadnik is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].