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ALBANY — A week after Jayden Threatts ran wild for 228 yards, Albany State discovered what its offense looks like when the running lanes disappear.

It wasn’t pretty.

Threatts was held to 25 yards, the Golden Rams managed just 81 yards rushing as a team and Kentucky State walked out of the Albany State Coliseum Saturday afternoon with a 24-16 victory that snapped ASU’s 11-game SIAC winning streak.

Yet for all that went wrong, Albany State still had the football at the Kentucky State 21-yard line on the final play with a chance to force overtime.

Quarterback Jeffery Davis lofted a fourth-down pass toward the end zone, but Kentucky State knocked it away as time expired. The Thorobreds escaped with the win and improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the SIAC, while Albany State fell to 2-3 and 2-1.

“It was a great matchup between two of the better teams in the SIAC,” Albany State coach David Bowser said. “Kentucky State University did a good job of capitalizing on our mishaps and they converted third downs.”

For Albany State, the difference started up front.

The Golden Rams rushed for 81 yards on 33 attempts, an average of just 2.5 yards per carry. Threatts, the freshman who erupted for 228 yards in last week’s 32-28 victory at Allen University, managed 25 yards on 10 carries. Davis actually led ASU with 31 rushing yards despite being sacked five times.

“We were missing a couple of starting offensive linemen and we had new guys in there,” Bowser said. “That made a big difference, plus Kentucky State is a good football team. They are 4-1 and one of the better teams in our conference.”

The inability to establish the run left Albany State playing from behind for most of the afternoon.

ASU couldn’t have started much better. After forcing Kentucky State to punt on its opening possession, Davis directed a five-play, 60-yard touchdown drive. He completed four passes on the possession, finishing it with a 13-yard strike to Cardrece Mobley for a 7-0 lead.

Kentucky State answered with two first-quarter touchdowns to take a 14-7 lead, and Jonathan Rodriguez’s 31-yard field goal sent Albany State into halftime trailing 14-10.

Then came the mistake that changed the complexion of the second half.

On Albany State’s third offensive play after halftime, Davis broke loose for a 20-yard run but lost the football. Kentucky State recovered at the ASU 44 and needed only four plays to capitalize, with Zaiden Foster scoring from 5 yards out for a 21-10 lead.

Kentucky State finished with 406 yards of offense to Albany State’s 246 and threw for 303 yards. The Thorobreds also converted 6 of 13 third downs and both of their first two fourth-down opportunities.

Still, the Rams hung around.

Davis helped engineer an 11-play, 65-yard drive late in the third quarter and into the fourth. Threatts finished it with a 3-yard touchdown run, trimming the deficit to 21-16 with 12:38 remaining after the two-point conversion failed.

Davis quietly put together an efficient afternoon despite the pressure around him. He completed 15 of 21 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown without an interception.

“I thought JD Davis played a good game,” Bowser said. “A 71 percent pass completion rate is not bad. Jaquan Graham made some great plays at wide receiver.”

Graham was Davis’ top target, catching five passes for 67 yards, including a 29-yard reception on Albany State’s final drive.

Kentucky State responded to Threatts’ touchdown with perhaps the most important possession of the game.

The Thorobreds kept the ball for 15 plays, traveled 60 yards and drained 8:03 from the clock before Leland Gantz kicked a 33-yard field goal. What had been a five-point game became 24-16 with only 4:29 remaining.

Albany State’s defense gave the offense one last chance.

Kentucky State went three-and-out on its next possession, and the Rams took over at their own 14 with 1:51 remaining.

Davis scrambled for 24 yards on the first play. Three plays later, he connected with Graham for 29 yards to the Kentucky State 25.

Suddenly, despite being outgained by 160 yards, despite the lost fumble, despite a running game that had gone nowhere most of the afternoon, Albany State was within striking distance.

The Rams got as far as the 21.

They got no farther.

Davis’ fourth-down pass into the end zone was broken up as the clock reached zero.

“We definitely are a better football team when we can run the football,” Bowser said.

Albany State’s defense did enough to keep the Rams alive. Jimmy Dawson recorded a team-high 10 tackles, including one for loss, and forced and recovered a fumble. Derrick Drayton had six tackles, 1½ tackles for loss and a sack, while Cameron Watts and Rontavion Scott each finished with seven tackles.

“Jimmy Dawson played excellent on defense and got double-digit tackles with 10,” Bowser said. “Derrick Drayton was good as always.”

The loss was Albany State’s first in conference play this season and its first to Kentucky State since 2003.

Now comes a break at an opportune time.

After playing five consecutive weeks, the Golden Rams have an open date before Lane College visits the Coliseum for Homecoming on Oct. 10.

Bowser’s priorities for the time off are straightforward: get healthier and eliminate the mistakes that have made life more difficult for a young team.

Albany State was penalized seven times for 60 yards Saturday.

“We’re gonna take the week to work on getting healthier and we are also going to work on cleaning up things like penalties,” Bowser said. “We had seven today and that is one thing with a young team that we have got to get better with.”

The break also gives Albany State time to find the rushing attack that carried it a week ago.

Because if the final two minutes Saturday proved anything, it’s that even on a day when very little went right offensively, the Golden Rams were still one play away from having a chance to erase all of it.