HUNTSVILLE – Sophomore quarterback Jared Johnson passed for 386 yards and three touchdowns to lead FCS No. 14 ranked Sam Houston to a 51-20 victory over Alabama State Saturday at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.

Johnson threw touchdown passes of nine yards to Rickey Smith, 48 yards to Jeffrey Thomas and 68 yards to Keshawn Hill. Hill also scored on a four-yard run.

“I thought we did some good things offensively. Defensively we were a little spotty and gave up too many big plays. That's going to be the key for us, if we can learn to stop giving up the big plays I think we can be a pretty good football team,” K.C. Keeler said following his first win as Sam Houston head coach.

A pair of transfer running backs led the Bearkats in rushing with 83 yards each. Jalen Overstreet, a transfer running back from Texas, had 11 carries for 83 yards and Donavan Williams, a junior transfer from ASA Junior College, added 83 yards on 12 carries including a one-yard score.

LaDarius Brown led the Bearkats in receiving with six catches for 65 yards. Smith had six catches for 53 yards and Thomas had five for 78 yards. 11 different players caught a pass in the ballgame.

The Bearkats ramped up the offense and ran 104 plays in the game, more than in any game last season. Sam Houston totaled 685 yards of offense and dominated time of possession, keeping the ball for just over 40 minutes.

Hornet quarterback Daniel Duhart led Alabama State completing 17 of 32 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns.

Sam Houston now stands 1-1 for the year while the game was Alabama State's season opener.

The win extended Sam Houston's home winning streak to 23 games, which stands as the nation's longest active home winning streak.

“I wasn't part of the 22 wins but I am now part of number 23. It really is special to be part of something like that. It's really exciting to see a great home crowd come out enjoy what we did,” Keeler said.

The Bearkats will hit the road next week and play nationally-ranked LSU in Baton Rouge, La. 

Box Score (Final)

Scoring Summary:

1st          08:17     SHSU     Zachary Stevens 0 yd fumble recovery (Luc Swimberghe kick), 11-78 3:26, ALST 0 - SHSU 7

                03:58     SHSU     Donavan Williams 1 yd run (Luc Swimberghe kick), 11-43 3:40, ALST 0 - SHSU 14

                02:12     ALST      Jamir Hannah 6 yd pass from Daniel Duhart (Preston Clark kick), 6-75 1:47, ALST 7 - SHSU 14

2nd        12:21     SHSU     Keshawn Hill 4 yd run (Luc Swimberghe kick), 12-88 3:57, ALST 7 - SHSU 21

                08:07     SHSU     Rickey Smith 9 yd pass from Jared Johnson (Luc Swimberghe kick), 10-70 3:02, ALST 7 - SHSU 28

                05:34     SHSU     Jeffrey Thomas 48 yd pass from Jared Johnson (Luc Swimberghe kick), 3-73 0:51, ALST 7 - SHSU 35

                03:24     ALST      Preston Clark 34 yd field goal, 8-54 2:07, ALST 10 - SHSU 35

                00:04     SHSU     Luc Swimberghe 32 yd field goal, 8-50 3:12, ALST 10 - SHSU 38

3rd         11:57     ALST      DeMario Bell 69 yd pass from Daniel Duhart (Preston Clark kick), 4-78 1:12, ALST 17 - SHSU 38

                05:43     SHSU     Keshawn Hill 68 yd pass from Jared Johnson (Luc Swimberghe kick), 1-68 0:15, ALST 17 - SHSU 45

                03:57     ALST      Preston Clark 23 yd field goal, 7-69 1:46, ALST 20 - SHSU 45

                00:32     SHSU     Luc Swimberghe 30 yd field goal, 11-61 3:19, ALST 20 - SHSU 48

4th         09:04     SHSU     Luc Swimberghe 38 yd field goal, 8-29 2:47, ALST 20 - SHSU 51

                ALST      SHSU

FIRST DOWNS    17           34

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)     30-141   57-289

PASSING YDS (NET)         261         396

Passes Att-Comp-Int      33-18-1 48-33-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS   63-402   105-685

Fumble Returns-Yards   0-0          0-0

Punt Returns-Yards         3-38       2-13

Kickoff Returns-Yards    4-67       5-71

Interception Returns-Yards         0-0          1-0

Punts (Number-Avg)      9-36.4    5-44.2

Fumbles-Lost     0-0          2-1

Penalties-Yards 7-69       10-80

Possession Time               19:52     40:08

Third-Down Conversions              2 of 14   12 of 23

Fourth-Down Conversions           0 of 1     2 of 2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances           3-4          6-6

Sacks By: Number-Yards               3-15       2-8

RUSHING: ALST-Malcolm Cyrus 13-83; Khalid Thomas 3-25; Daniel Duhart 8-20;

Jahaad Coleman 4-7; DeMario Bell 1-5; Quinteris Toppings 1-1. Sam Houston

State-Jalen Overstreet 11-83; Donavan Williams 12-83; Keshawn Hill 15-57;

Yedidiah Louis 2-28; Jared Johnson 7-16; Ridgeway Frank 7-14; Rickey Smith 1-4;

De'Chaar Greer 1-4; Don King III 1-0; Zachary Stevens 0-0.

PASSING: ALST-Daniel Duhart 17-32-1-259; Quinteris Toppings 1-1-0-2. Sam Houston

State-Jared Johnson 31-46-0-386; Don King III 2-2-0-10.

RECEIVING: ALST-DeMario Bell 4-134; Malcolm Cyrus 4-49; Jamir Hannah 3-18;

Brandon Barnes 2-28; Nehemiah Henry 2-20; Khalid Thomas 1-6; Marcus Gamble 1-4;

Jahaad Coleman 1-2. Sam Houston State-LaDarius Brown 6-65; Rickey Smith 6-53;

Jeffrey Thomas 5-78; Keshawn Hill 3-126; Derreck Edwards 3-21; Yedidiah Louis

3-15; Kiante' Griffin 3-13; Ragan Henderson 1-12; Gerald Thomas 1-5; Jalen

Overstreet 1-4; Shyon Motlagh 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS: ALST-None. Sam Houston State-Michael Wade 1-0.

FUMBLES: ALST-None. Sam Houston State-Keshawn Hill 1-0; Demartie Allen 1-1.

Stadium: Bowers Stadium        Attendance: 7595

Kickoff time: 6:30 pm   End of Game: 9:45      Total elapsed time: 3:15   

Officials: Referee: Ross Smith; Umpire: Lance Sleeper; Linesman: Steve Green;

Line judge: Todd Allen; Back judge: Kellen Adams; Field judge: Buddy Furqueron;

Side judge: David Fields;

Temperature: 88        Wind: SE 5 mph  Weather: Cloudy             

ALST vs #14 Sam Houston State (Aug 30, 2014 at Huntsville, Texas)

SACKS (UA-A): ALST-Chris Terry 0-1; Torey Davis 1-0; Daerius Washington 1-0; Edward Mosley 0-1. Sam Houston State-Sione Latu 1-0; James DeLaRosa 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): ALST-Torey Davis 8-5; Kourtney Berry 7-6; Daerius Washington 6-4; Ka'Ra Stewart 5-5; Marcus Berg 6-1; Najee Bright 5-3; Bradley Street 4-2; Marquis Parker 2-3; Trey Jenkins 3-0; Dionte Ponder 3-0; Dominique Jackson 2-2; Edward Mosley 2-2; Chris Terry 2-1; Roderick Henderson 1-3; Hyram Frederick 2-0; Willie Roller 1-1; Ed Murray 1-1; Marcus Owens 0-3; Meryles Gilbert, II 1-0; Antonio Humphrey 1-0; DeMario Bell 1-0; Derrick Billups 0-2; Rodney Cross 0-2; Delwyn Torbert 0-1; Kenyan Davis 0-1; Kadeem Thomas 0-1; Justin Mitchell 0-1.

Sam Houston State-Myke Chatman 5-1; James DeLaRosa 4-0; Tristan Eche 3-2; Trenier Orr 3-1; Lance Duran 3-1; P. J. Hall 3-0; Darion Flowers 2-1; Tevin Creeks 2-0; Dwight Jackson 2-0; Eric Agbaroji 2-0; Gary Lorance 2-0; Tyrel Stokes 1-1; Desmond Fite 1-1; Jacobi Hunter 1-1; Mouf Adebo 1-1; Sione Latu 1-1; Steve York 1-1; Contereze Pierce 1-0; Josh Lyons 1-0; Mikel Everette 1-0; Dustin Moehlig 1-0; Kevin Jackson 1-0; Cory Hamlett 1-0; Ernest Payton 1-0.