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Grand Forks Herald
UND places three on Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team
- Story byGrand Forks Herald
- UND places three on Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team
Jul. 13—GRAND FORKS — The UND football program has landed three players on the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team, the organization announced Monday.
UND's honorees are senior edge Lance Rucker (first team), senior offensive lineman Liam Becher (second team) and junior edge Kaden Vig (second team).
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Rucker led the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 11.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. He had a career-high 3.0 sacks in UND's 31-6 win over Tennessee Tech in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs.
Becher enters his senior season with 26 consecutive starts at left tackle. He started all 12 games as a sophomore in 2024 before anchoring the left side of the line in all 14 games last season as the Fighting Hawks went 8-6 under first-year head coach Eric Schmidt.
Vig finished his sophomore season with 36 tackles and 5.5 sacks. In UND's 35-7 win at Northern Iowa, he had 2.0 sacks and returned a strip-sack fumble 63 yards for a touchdown.
Defending national champion Montana State leads the way with eight preseason All-America selections, including safety Caden Dowler and offensive lineman Titan Fleischmann back from the 2025 first team. South Dakota State is second with six selections.
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Linebacker Tye Nikeamp from national runner-up Illinois State returns as a two-time postseason All-America first-teamer. Also back from the first team: Walter Payton-winning quarterback Beau Brungard ( Youngstown State ), wide receiver Marquis Buchanan ( Rhode Island ), offensive lineman Joshua Sales Jr. (Austin Peay), linebacker Joshua Stoneking (Furman), safety Abu Kamara ( Yale ), kick returner Ja'briel Mace (Villanova) and put returner Bugs Mortimer (Stephen F. Austin).
The MVFC had 21 total selections, including five on the first team.
UND opens the 2026 season at home against Long Island on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Schmidt, Rucker and quarterback Jerry Kaminski will serve as UND's representatives at the annual MVFC Media Day, which takes places Tuesday in Sioux Falls .
