Matchup to feature wide receiver showcase
Danes, Rhode Island combine to have top 4 in receptions in CAA
The University at Albany football program made the proclamation from its Twitter account.
“The Top WR Duo in the @ CA Afootball Jerah Reeves and Juwan Green,” the Great Danes tweeted on Tuesday.
Rhode Island’s Isaiah Coulter and Aaron Parker might have something to say about that.
Arguably the two best wide receiver tandems in the Colonial Athletic Association will face each other on Saturday when Ualbany takes on URI at 3:30 p.m. at Casey Stadium.
They’re the CA A’s top four players in receptions. Parker leads the league with 47 catches, followed by Green and Reeves with 46 each.
Coulter is close behind in fourth with 43.
Green a nd Reeves have combined for 12 touchdow ns, best in the CA A . Coulter a nd Parker, who a re f irst cousins f rom Mar yla nd, have 10 scores bet ween them.
Coulter, Green a nd Parker a l l average at lea st 100 ya rds receiv ing per ga me, while Reeves is at 80.7 per contest .
“I think the numbers spea k for themselves,” Reeves said. “We’ve played ver y well. They ’ve played ver y well. There’s an opportunity where we finally get to meet up, so I’ll ta ke myself and Juwan over anybody, and D-mac ( Ualbany wide receiver Donovan Mcdonald). He’s explosive as well. I’ll ta ke us over anybody.”
UA lba ny head coach Greg Gattuso pointed out the CA A has abundant t a lent at wide receiver with UA lba ny and URI’S duos among them.
“I t hin k t hey ’re cert a inly in t he conversation,” he sa id. “A re t hey t he best? We’ll k now t his week. It ’l l be a nice elimination bat t le. I t hin k t hese t wo g uys with R hode Isla nd have been doing it toget her for a per iod of time.”
Coulter a nd Parker blistered UA lba ny in a 45-26 v ictor y in R hode Isla nd last yea r. Parker had nine catches for 146 ya rds a nd a touchdow n while Coulter added nine receptions for 109 ya rds a nd a score.
The UA lba ny seconda r y had trouble dea ling wit h t heir size a nd speed. Coulter is 6-foot-3 a nd 190 pounds a nd Parker is 6-3 a nd 208.
Asked what the Great Danes lea r ned from that ga me, sa fet y Hayden Specht replied, “Just how good of players t hey a re. Last yea r, we didn’t rea l ly recog nize t hat going into the ga me a nd we pa id for t hat . This week a nd t his yea r, we’re rea l ly focusing on ta k ing them out of t heir ga me pla n a nd focus on get ting t he ‘ W’.”
Green didn’t play in last year ’s meeting with URI because he was still having an NCA A elig ibility issue cleared up. He said he doesn’t view this game as a personal challenge between wide receivers.
“That ’s not something we set out to do in our game plan,” Green said. “What we focus on is what we control. We control our offense. They control their of fense. So at the end of the day, we just look to do our job better than they do their job.”
Green said URI has
“ver y ag g ressive” cor nerbacks, much li ke t he rest of the CA A .
“We’ve just got to match their intensit y and physicalit y,” Green said. “Really, we want to be more physical than them.”
Green a nd Reeves have developed a n excellent rappor t with UA lba ny redshir t freshman quarterback Jef f Undercuf f ler, who is tied for second in the Footba ll Championship Subdiv ision wit h 20 touchdow n passes.
Meanwhile, URI has a di f ferent quar terback t han last yea r in redshir t junior Vito Priore, who leads the CA A with 333.8 passing ya rds per ga me. He’s more of a pocket quar terback t han JaJuan Lawson, whom he replaced. Gattuso sa id Priore reminds him of for mer UA lba ny quar terback Vince Testaverde because of his g unslinger menta lit y.
“Their quar terback will g ive (Coulter a nd Parker) a cha nce to just go up a nd get t he ba l l,” Specht sa id. “That ’s what t hey did last yea r a nd we’re ex pecting them to do t hat aga in t his yea r.”