CCU’s Israel looking to maximize senior season

It’s hard to single out specifics when a team scores the first 41 points of a game as Coastal Carolina did last Saturday night at South Carolina State, but perhaps as encouraging as anything in that offensive onslaught was the connection between quarterback Alex Ross and wide receiver John Israel.

The seniors hooked up for two long touchdown passes in the first quarter and stayed in sync throughout the night, showing a mix of timing, trust and execution that maybe wasn’t always there last season.

A connection that, if consistent, could make an already potent Chanticleers offense even more prolific.

“I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Chants offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude said of Israel. “He had a really good camp, I think he’s really in good shape, he’s healthy and I think he overcame a lot of the demons. He had a bunch of drops last year, and I think he’s the kind of guy that internalizes a lot of things.”

For their part, Ross and Israel say nothing is different this year in their connection, their trust in each other – and that very well may be.

But the eye test says the 6-foot senior receiver from Florence looks primed for bigger things in 2015.

To be fair, Israel had a fine season last fall, catching 46 passes for 798 yards and six touchdowns. He is also Coastal Carolina’s career leader in yards per catch with an impressive average of 18.21 yards over 71 career receptions, with 73.2 percent of those catches resulting in first downs or touchdowns. He’s a proven big-play threat.

As Patenaude mentioned, though, he battled drops at times as a junior and there were other plays where the connection between he and Ross seemed just a bit off.

While he showed that home run potential with standout performances against North Carolina A&T (four catches for 92 yards), Charleston Southern (three catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns) and Monmouth (8-111-1) in particular, there were also eight games in which Israel was held to fewer than 50 yards receiving.

The Coastal Carolina coaches believe he is a player who could land in an NFL training camp next summer if he improves his consistency, and so far the results are encouraging.

While he only had two catches in the opener, one was a beautiful 43-yard reception in which he adjusted perfectly to come back to the ball to make the catch. And then Saturday night at South Carolina State, he totaled six catches for 87 yards and touchdowns of 32 and 33 yards.

“He had a great camp and … really is kind of meeting his potential at this point,” Patenaude said. “I always felt that he’s a kid that will be on the NFL radar if he just showed a little bit more consistency and I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence.”

Israel acknowledges he came out of last season knowing there were areas in which he could improve, and entering his final collegiate season he wanted to maximize his potential.

“I know I did a lot of bad things technique-wise last year so I tried to perfect those techniques and perfect my craft knowing that this is my last season,” he said. “To be able to play on the next level, I can’t make those mistakes.”

On Saturday night, he put on a pass-catching exhibition while showing what he is capable of against one-on-one coverage this season.

His first touchdown came on a double-move down the right sideline as Ross led him with a perfectly placed pass and Israel easily shed his defender for a wide open grab and a 32-yard touchdown.

“It was a double-move play and we’ve worked on it a lot in the offseason so the connection, the chemistry between me and Alex is real good,” Israel said. “So coming out of the break on the route I knew the ball was going to be there, he knew where I was going to be and the connection was on point.”

Three possessions later, he abused man coverage again, hauling in a dart over the middle from Ross and racing into the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown.

“I don’t think it’s much different than last year; I think the chemistry is still there. We’re just targeting him more this year and I’m taking advantage of the one-on-one opportunities he’s had,” Ross said. “Especially on that double move – he put that guy to sleep – and on that other touchdown he had broke into the middle of the field, I gave it to him and he broke a tackle. I think the biggest thing with him is he’s breaking more tackles this year.”

Israel’s big night coincided with junior Bruce Mapp – the team’s top receiver last season – going without a catch, and the Chants’ aerial playmakers, including slot receiver Tyrell Blanks, did tend to take turns having big games last season.

Maybe that will be the case again this fall, but nonetheless, a receiving corps that looked to be among the best in the FCS entering the season may just be even better this year.

“The thing [Saturday] was they put [Israel] in a lot of man-to-man situations and we’ve got a lot of weapons out there so if you try to cover one guy or you double one guy, then somebody else is going to be open,” Patenaude said. “Alex found John a couple times wide open and made a couple plays and that just spiraled off of the first week. I think he just feels good about where is right now and he’s playing well.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "CCU’s Israel looking to maximize senior season."