Albany State football: Brick by brick – we are getting better

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Brick by brick. Moment by moment.

That was David Bowser’s message to his Albany State football team Saturday night. And, goodness, did the Golden Rams make their new coach work for every brick.

There were explosive touchdowns, costly penalties, defensive breakdowns and momentum swings. There was also enough determination — and more than enough Jayden Threatts — for Albany State to leave Allen University with a 32-28 victory.

It wasn’t always pretty. But construction sites rarely are.

“We’re getting better,” Bowser said. “It’s brick by brick, moment by moment.”

Albany State improved to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the SIAC while extending its conference winning streak to 11 games. The Golden Rams will finally return home Saturday, hosting Kentucky State at 1 p.m. at the Albany State Coliseum.

They’ll bring home plenty of momentum. They’ll also bring back a long list of corrections.

The Golden Rams committed 10 penalties for 121 yards against Allen. The Yellow Jackets went 0-for-11 on third down but converted all four of their fourth-down opportunities, with Bowser attributing those conversions to Albany State penalties.

“We’re a good football team when we don’t have penalties,” Bowser said. “Those self-inflicted things are on us.”

Bowser said his players became overly eager at times, particularly while trying to contain Allen receiver Deveon Williams. The dangerous No. 2 caught six passes for 119 yards.

The problem wasn’t a lack of effort. It was controlling it.

“We want to play with emotion, but we don’t want to play emotionally,” Bowser said. “We have to sharpen that up.”

Albany State certainly had reason to become emotional early.

Following a weather delay of nearly an hour, Allen scored touchdowns on its first two possessions and rolled up 115 yards. The Golden Rams appeared to be in trouble.

Then the lightning show began — and this time it had nothing to do with the weather.

Quarterback Jeffery Davis connected with Exavior Sherrod for a 45-yard touchdown. Rontavion Scott intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 75 yards. Threatts found daylight and raced 80 yards for a touchdown. Cameron Watts broke a tackle and took a punt 69 yards to the end zone.

Four big plays turned an early deficit into a 26-14 Albany State lead.

Threatts supplied most of the offensive muscle. The freshman from Tallahassee rushed for a career-high 228 yards on 19 carries, averaging 12 yards per attempt. He accounted for 228 of the Golden Rams’ 271 rushing yards.

“I have been telling everyone Threatts is special,” Bowser said. “He’s showing it every week when he goes out there.”

Davis gave the offense balance, completing 13 of 19 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Roderick McCrary contributed 46 yards rushing and caught five passes for 46 more.

Bowser called McCrary a “triple threat” because of his ability to run, catch and handle pass-protection responsibilities.

“He’ll do whatever we need him to do to help the team win,” Bowser said.

Albany State’s defense also recovered after its rough start. After surrendering 115 yards on Allen’s first two possessions, the Golden Rams allowed only 156 over the final 51 minutes.

Albany State then controlled nearly 12 minutes of the third quarter and turned to Jonathan Rodriguez to finish two drives. The redshirt freshman made field goals of 35 and 19 yards, with the second extending the lead to 32-21 with 7:17 remaining.

Allen’s final touchdown followed a communication mistake after an Albany State timeout. Bowser accepted the blame, explaining that one of the Golden Rams’ top players did not return to the field.

It was another reminder that this remains a team under construction.

But Albany State is returning home with a winning conference record, an 11-game SIAC winning streak and a chance to show its fans what Bowser has been building through four consecutive road games.

Kentucky State will provide a significant test Saturday. It will also provide Bowser and the Golden Rams their first opportunity this season to run onto their own field with the band playing and both sides of the Coliseum filled.

The building process continues.

This time, Albany State gets to work at home.