Rhody WRs A Cause For Concern

No wonder Curt Cignetti is concerned about defending Aaron Parker and Isaiah Coulter.

The Rhode Island wide receivers are difficult for the James Madison coach to forget.

“It’ll be a challenge this week against Rhode Island, which has got an excellent receiving core,” Cignetti, the first-year JMU mentor, said.

The Dukes play the Rams on Saturday at noon in Kingston, R.I. And in each game Cignetti has coached against Rhode Island before Parker and Coulter significantly aided the Rams.

Last year against Elon, Cignetti’s former squad, Parker made nine catches for 190 yards and three touchdowns. Coulter chipped in with four catches for 51 yards. Two years ago versus the Cignetti-led Phoenix, Parker hauled in five grabs for 68 yards and a score while Coulter added three catches for 35 yards.

“He’s probably got an NFL future,” Cignetti said about Parker. “He’s got tremendous hands and he can make tough catches. He can run by you. Coulter is a topflight player, too.”

And it’s not only Cignetti who has had a hard time coming up with a plan to slow the tandem of 6-foot-3 cousins, Parker and Coulter, from Prince George’s County, Md.

This season, Parker, Coulter and slot receiver Ahmere Dorsey have provided problems to all of their foes.

In spite of a 2-9 mark for Rhode Island with only Saturday’s game left for the Rams, each of the three have at least 40 catches, at least four touchdowns and more than 590 receiving yards. Parker, an All-American candidate, leads Rhode Island with 76 receptions for 1,158 yards and eight touchdowns.

“They definitely free me up to make plays,” Coulter said. “If they’re having a big game and the defense isn’t focused on me or vise versa, it helps. So it definitely helps having two other receivers that can play.”

Parker said the three have remained steady and concentrated each week to accomplish what they can even though the season hasn’t gone Rhode Island’s way.

“We’ve just stayed poised through the season and kept our cool,” Parker said. “But you know, it’s not in the season what you do (to improve). It’s in the offseason and we sacrificed our summer and stayed up here, just putting in work and doing the fundamental things to be the best receiving core that we can be.

“And at the end of the day, you can’t control the whole game, so when the ball is in our court, we make it happen. But if stuff doesn’t turn out how we want it to turn out, then we can only control what we can control.”

Parker said his goal was to eclipse what he did in each of the past few seasons, and he’s already done that, becoming the first 1,000-yard receiver at Rhode Island since 1994. Coulter, who is up to 974 yards, can join Parker with 26 receiving yards Saturday.

“At the next level with especially coming from an FCS school, they want to see consistent numbers and that year to year you’re excelling even more,” Parker, a senior, said. “So I came into the season with the goal that I’d break the 1,000-yard barrier, which I did, and another goal I set that I most likely won’t reach is to get 15 touchdowns.

“I got eight this year, but we’ve got a lot of weapons on offense, so 15 touchdowns is really spread around all three of us, with Amhere Dorsey. He’s a big part of our receiving core, too.”

Rhode Island’s passing offense is second best in the Colonial Athletic Association, averaging 302 passing yards per game.

“They’re very talented guys, both of ‘em,” Rams coach Jim Fleming said of Parker and Coulter. “They have extraordinary work ethics. They commit hard and like every good football player, the things that are important – preparation and refining their craft – they’re able to get up for and make plays when necessary.”

Cignetti said Dukes cornerback Rashad Robinson played his best game of the season this past weekend against Richmond and that the entire secondary has only improved over the last month, but that it’ll take the whole defense to slow Parker, Coulter and Dorsey.

Last year, Parker had seven catches for 99 yards against the Dukes.

“I’ve played against those guys for a couple years now and they can go, for sure,” JMU linebacker Dimitri Holloway said. “I got a lot of respect for those two receivers.

“I think the main thing is communication and just being on the same page. Everybody has to be flying around and making sure we’re all on the same page. If we’re out there doing the same thing and doing our job, we’ll be out there collectively and doing what we got to do.”

Cignetti said: “We have to pressure the quarterback and cover. It’s pretty simple.”