An overnight trip. Playing on the road against the No. 25-ranked team in the country. A team that already had one regular-season game under its belt.

The Bees had plenty of excuses if they stumbled in their season opener at Dakota State Saturday afternoon.

But they made sure none of it mattered.

SAU rolled up 607 yards of total offense and pulled away in the second half for an impressive 49-27 win, the program's first road win over a ranked opponent since a 53-34 victory at No. 22 William Penn on Oct. 5, 2013.

Isaiah Hawkins rushed for 174 yards and a pair of long touchdowns, Jake Osterberger finished with 109 yards and a score and Garret Tiarks added 80 yards and a TD as the Bees piled up 372 yards on the ground.

SAU also moved the ball through the air as Jake Romani threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns, all three to Tanner Champley, who caught eight passes for 107 yards.

And in the second half, the Bee defense forced four turnovers and allowed just six points to the high-scoring Trojans in helping St. Ambrose break away from a 21-21 halftime tie.

Touchdown runs from Osterberger (5 yards) and Hawkins (80), and a 23-yard Romani-to-Champley touchdown pass in the final minute helped SAU keep pace as the teams traded touchdowns in a back-and-forth first half.

On the first possession of the second half, Romani found Champley on an 18-yard scoring strike to cap a seven-play, 64-yard drive to give the Bees a lead they would never relinquish.

After allowing 274 yards in the first half, the St. Ambrose defense made an statement early in the second half, getting quick stops on Dakota State's first two possessions of the third quarter - first on a three-and-out, then on a turnover as Bernard Buhake recovered a fumble forced by Dillon Valdez, giving SAU the ball on the DSU 35-yard line.

On a third-and-9 play from the Trojan 34, Romani and Champley connected for their third touchdown of the afternoon to extend the lead to 35-21 lead.

After Dakota State scored to get back within 35-27, Tiarks ripped off a 48-yard touchdown run to give the Bees some breathing room.

Griffin Zajac intercepted a pass late in the third, and the SAU defense dominated the fourth quarter, giving up just 46 yards on 21 Trojan plays in the final stanza.

Hawkins broke the game open with a 65-yard touchdown burst before the defense sealed the win. Cody Wright's sack and forced fumble was recovered by Cody Kieffer, and Shaun Zachary picked off a pass in the closing minutes for SAU's third and fourth forced turnovers of the second half.

Taylor O'Donnell led the defense with nine total tackles. Buhake had two of SAU's four sacks and added 3.5 tackles for loss among his eight tackles. Jake Schramm and Ryan Zitkus were each in on eight stops, and Greg Burnett Jr. registered seven tackles.

Offensively, Vince Vignali hauled in four receptions for 48 yards.

St. Ambrose will play its second of three straight road games to open the year next Saturday with a trip to Lindenwood-Belleville. Kickoff from Belleville, Ill., is slated for 1 p.m.