GRAND FORKS — The UND football program brought out its legends Saturday night in its 2024 home opener against No. 4 Montana.

Minnesota Vikings veteran Jim Kleinsasser flipped the coin. Canadian Football League Hall of Famer Weston Dressler was recognized during a first-half timeout.

In the second half against the Griz, UND’s current roster put in a performance befitting its decorated guests.

UND scored 20 unanswered points in the second half and C.J. Elrichs’ 40-yard field goal with 2 minutes, 16 seconds left gave the No. 23 Fighting Hawks a 27-24 victory over No. 4 Montana.

UND won its 38th consecutive home game, a national record.

“Great win for our guys and our program,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. “I was really proud of our guys. We didn’t play well in the first half. We came out and responded. Our offensive line took control of the game.”

UND trailed 24-7 at halftime and Simon Romfo, making his first start for Grand Forks, connected on just 5 of 14 shots for 54 yards and an interception.

Meanwhile, the Griz had 286 yards of offense at halftime and freshman quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat had 151 passing yards on 17 of 22 passing.

“We just held it together as a team,” said UND nose guard Craig Orlando, who had two quarterback sacks. “The first half, we came out slow. The second half, we knew we had to come up big.”

Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

UND’s comeback started quickly in the second half.

The Hawks opened with a scoring drive, sparked by a 17-yard run by Simon Romfo and a defensive pass interference in the end zone. Gaven Ziebarth capped the drive with a 2-yard run to cut the lead to 24-14.

After a quick three-and-out thanks to a third-down breakup by corner Devin Hembry, UND scored its second time of the quarter on just five plays. On the scoring play, Romfo fumbled the snap, picked it up in the backfield and buried it for a 19-yard touchdown run that saw him carry a defender the final few yards into the end zone. Romfo’s touchdown run cut the Griz lead to 24-21.

The Griz countered with another three-and-out thanks to a sack by Josh Navratil on third down.

UND went on another long drive, a regular feature of the two weeks of the season. On the 17th play of the drive, Schweigert elected to kick a short field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 2 to tie the game at 24.

Once again, UND’s defense surrendered a three-and-out. This time, UND linebacker Dylan Boecker broke through the line of scrimmage on third down to force an incompletion.

UND then ran out more than seven minutes of clock as an inexperienced offensive line went to work again.

On fourth-and-3 from the 24-yard line, Elrichs, who missed a punt last week at Iowa State, made the 40-yarder to take the lead.

“I knew there was a really good opportunity to score a field goal,” Elrichs said. “Great snap by David. Great hold by Simon. The line blocked great. It was a really cool moment.”

The Griz had plenty of time to react, however. Montana began his drive on his own 29.

On a fourth-and-1 from the Griz 39-yard line, Ah Yat broke through the line for a 31-yard sprint, putting pressure on the UND defense.

After an incomplete pass on first down, UND linebacker Wyatt Pedigo tackled Ah Yat. On third down, UND broke up a screen pass.

On fourth-and-17, Montana attempted a 54-yard field goal with 39 seconds left, but missed.

“Great job by (Schweigert) and what a great win for their program,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said. “Obviously, we didn’t execute very well. We can’t do what we did in the second half and expect to hold a big lead or even win. That starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job of figuring out how to get a first down.”