Potent passing game headache for Kat opponents
10/23/2015 12:33:00 PM | Football
Sam Houston State quarterback Jared Johnson is a different player this season and it's for the better.
Johnson had a great year in 2014, throwing for 3,054 yards, running for 999 yards and scoring 27 total touchdowns, but there were areas in his game that needed improvement.
As a sophomore last season, the South Grand Prairie High School product completed 57.4 percent of his passes. This season, his completion percentage has spiked to 67.2. That includes touchdown passes of 86, 66, 64, 55 and 35 yards through six games while splitting time with quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe.
Along with being a more accurate passer, Johnson has taken better care of the football this season, as he owns an 11:1 touchdown to interception ratio compared to his 21 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions a year ago.
“It's my second year in the offense and I've played, it's going on 24 or 25 games in this offense, so plays start to slow down for you and that's what's happening right now,” Johnson said.
Johnson had a career day last Saturday against Abilene Christian, throwing for five touchdowns, which tied Sam Houston's single-game record, and has played exceptionally well in the Bearkats' last two wins. He was named as the Southland's offensive "Player of the Week" Monday.
In his five-touchdown performance, Johnson completed 17 of his 24 passes for 250 yards against the Wildcats and was 8-for-9 passing with 168 yards and two touchdown passes versus Incarnate Word.
“Whenever you can throw five touchdown passes it's always good,” Johnson said. “I think that was my first time ever having five touchdown passes in a game and more than that, I was just happy to be able to have the performance we had as an offense last week and get another big conference win.”
While Johnson missed a few long balls that would have resulted in touchdowns earlier in the season, he has been on the money when it comes to deep passes in the past two weeks.
Johnson lobbed a perfect ball to LaDarius Brown on a 35-yard touchdown pass against Incarnate Word on a play that was well defended and last week, Johnson hit Brown again for a 64-yard score on a flea flicker that burned the Wildcats' secondary. Johnson showed great touch on the pass, hitting Brown in perfect stride.
Johnson also completed a 66-yard touchdown pass to running back Cory Avery, who had nothing but open turf in front of him after he caught the pass, against Incarnate Word on an intermediate route. Johnson threw a nice ball that kept Avery's momentum going forward on a wide open play that some quarterbacks tend to underthrow to make sure the receiver catches the ball.
Sam Houston's offense is much more productive and has been getting off to faster starts when Johnson and his receivers have hooked up for big plays.
“Whenever we're able to stretch the field like that, it makes it a lot easier for our running game,” Johnson said. “Everything helps each other out. Our ability to run the ball is helping us be able to attack over the top and the chemistry with the receivers is molding together really well right now.”
While Brown and speedy wide outs Gerald Thomas and Yedidiah Louis are a handful for any cornerback in the Football Championship Subdivision, defenses will be even more hard-pressed to shut down the Bearkats' passing game with the emergence of Avery as a pass catcher.
Avery caught three passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns last Saturday against Abilene Christian, with Avery making a nice diving catch for one of those touchdowns, after he scored on a 66-yard touchdown reception against Incarnate Word, giving Johnson yet another option to go to.
“It makes it hard for the defense whenever we have four receivers out there and a running back who we pass to out of the backfield,” Johnson said. “Those opportunities have come for me to get him the ball and it has been paying off.”
Another thing that has aided Johnson's development this season is sharing snaps with Briscoe.
While that might not sound like something that would help Johnson progress on the field, it has allowed Johnson stay healthier, as he is not taking nearly as many hits or running the ball as much as he did last year.
“There is no question my body is 100 times better than how I felt at this time last year,” Johnson said. “Last year at this time, I was a bit banged up. I just overall felt more body soreness, taking more hits and playing like (I did last year). When you just run the ball a few times a game and getting down when I can … it's helping me stay fresh.”
The Bearkats take on Nicholls in Sam Houston's annual Homecoming match-u Saturday at 6 p.m. at Elliott T. Bowers Stadium. Tickets are available on line at www.gobearkats.com or at the SHSU athletic ticket office on the west side of the stadium. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
