Golden Eagles pegged for sixth, two named to preseason all-OVC squad
Tennessee Tech has been picked to finish in a tie for sixth, while two Golden Eagles earned spots on the preseason all-OVC team. The team and preseason poll were announced Monday in Nashville at the league's annual Media Day.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The 2013 football season will bring plenty of
excitement to the Tennessee Tech campus, and the Golden Eagles will
be out to prove the Ohio Valley Conference voters wrong. Coach
Watson Brown's squad is picked to finish in a tie for sixth in the
league race, according to the annual poll of OVC coaches and sports
informaton directors, which was announced Monday at the annual
Football Media Day.
Individually, offensive tackle Wesley Sherrill and punter Chad
Zinchini were voted to the preseason all-OVC team.
For the first time since the 2007 season Eastern Illinois has been
picked the favorite. The defending champion Panthers picked up 12
of the 18 first-place votes in the 2013 poll.
Eastern Illinois totaled 122 points to top the poll. Eastern
Kentucky picked up four first-place votes and was second with 114
points while Tennessee State picked up the final two first-place
nods and was third with 90 points. Jacksonville State was picked
fourth (87 points) and was followed closely by UT Martin (78).
Murray State and Tennessee Tech each received 53 points to tie for
sixth while Southeast Missouri (35) and Austin Peay (16) rounded
out the poll.
Eastern Illinois was tabbed the preseason favorite for the fifth
time since joining the OVC prior to the 1996 season. The Panthers
were also picked as the favorites heading into the 1997, 2001, 2002
and 2007 seasons. In last year’s preseason poll EIU was
picked eighth but proved the voters wrong when the squad claimed
its sixth OVC Championship and made its 14th NCAA Football
Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoff appearance. This season
second year head coach Dino Babers welcomes back 44 letterwinners
and 16 starters. At the top of the returnees list is the duo of
senior quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and senior wide receiver Erik
Lora, both of who start the 2013 season on the Walter Payton Award
Watch List. A season ago the teammates helped the Panthers rank
seventh nationally in total offense (470.92 yards/game) and eighth
in scoring offense (36.5 points/game). Garoppolo passed for an OVC
record 3,823 yards last season to go along with his 31 touchdowns
and 61.3 completion percentage. Lora set the all-time NCAA FCS
record for receptions in a season (136), breaking the old NCAA mark
by 13 and shattering the old OVC record by 44. He also racked up
1,664 receiving yards (fifth in NCAA FCS single-season history) and
was an unanimous All-American selection as well as being selected
OVC Male Athlete of the Year. Both were preseason All-OVC
selections along with senior kicker Cameron Berra, who connected on
12-of-13 field goals and 48-of-52 point after attempts, and junior
guard Collin Seibert on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively
senior lineman Pat Wertz, who was given a sixth year of eligibility
by the NCAA, and senior defensive back Nick Beard were also named
preseason All-OVC selections. Wertz had 53 total tackles and 8.5
tackles-for-loss last season while Beard had 85 tackles and nine
pass breakups.
Eastern Kentucky finished in a tie for second place last season,
one loss behind Eastern Illinois. This season the Colonels return
five offensive and six defensive starters from that unit.
Offensively the team has to replace an All-American running back,
its starting quarterback and both of its starting wide receivers.
EKU should be strong in the blocking game, however, as the team
returns four offensive linemen who started at least one game last
season and starting fullback Jeremy James. The team should also be
strong defensively, returning its nucleus from last year’s
team that ranked second nationally in turnover margin (+1.73/game),
ninth in rushing defense (108.18 yards/game allowed) and 32nd
nationally in total defense (21.73 points/game allowed). Included
in the six returning defensive starters are four players who were
selected preseason All-OVC in senior lineman Shawn Shupperd, senior
linebackers Anthony Brown and Ichiro Vance and junior defensive
back Brandon Stanley. Stanley led the team with 81 tackles last
season and Brown added a team-best 12.5 tackles-for-loss while
Vance and Shupperd each totaled 56 tackles during their junior
campaigns.
Fourth-year head coach Rod Reed has helped his alma mater improve
in each of his first three seasons at Tennessee State. Last year
the Tigers started the season 7-0 and rose to as high as 17th in
the national rankings before losing an overtime game at
Jacksonville State. The team finished the season 8-3 overall,
marking just the third eight-win campaign for the program over the
last 13 years. Reed, a linebacker while playing at TSU, will have
another strong defensive unit this season after his team led the
OVC in total defense (361.64 yards/game) last year. All 11 starters
return from last season including Preseason OVC Defensive Player of
the Year Steven Godbolt III. The junior cornerback ranked first
nationally in interceptions/game (0.60), hauling in six picks to go
along with 45 tackles, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles in
10 games last year. Three other TSU defensive players were named
preseason All-OVC, including senior lineman Antonio Harper, junior
linebacker Nick Thrasher and junior defensive back Daniel
Fitzpatrick. Thrasher led the team in tackles (105) and
tackles-for-loss (9.0) last season while Harper was second in sacks
(3.5) and Fitzpatrick was first in pass breakups (8) and second in
tackles (61). Among the returning offensive players is All-American
tight end A.C. Leonard, who had 51 catches for 733 yards last
season, and preseason All-OVC offensive linemen Demetrius Rhaney
and Kadeem Edwards.
For the first time since 2000 Jacksonville State welcomes a new
head coach as Bill Clark, a JSU alum, takes over the program.
Clark, the 13th head coach in Jax State modern football history,
spent the last five years on the staff at South Alabama helping
building that program from scratch. At USA he was the defensive
coordinator that helped the Jaguars lead the Sun Belt in total
defense in its first full year in the league (2012). Clark takes
over a program that has had 10-straight winning seasons and returns
53 total letterwinners and 14 starters. Although the Gamecocks will
have to break in a new quarterback, the team does return preseason
All-OVC selection DaMarcus James at running back. Despite playing
in just nine games last season, the now junior led JSU with 867
rushing yards (96.3 yards/game) and also scored six touchdowns. The
team also returns junior offensive guard Tarik Milner who was also
a preseason All-OVC pick. Among the team’s returning
defensive starters are the two leading tacklers from 2012 in senior
linebacker Rashad Smith (89 stops) and junior linebacker Ben
Endress (85 tackles). Also back is OVC All-Newcomer pick Jermaine
Hough who had three interceptions and eight pass breakups as a
freshman a year ago.
UT Martin is coming off its first eight-win season since 2008. The
Skyhawks finished the year 8-3 overall which included a victory
over Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) foe Memphis; that win was the
first over an FBS opponent in 15 all-time games for UTM. This
season head coach Jason Simpson, who enters his eighth season with
the team which ties him for the longest tenured active coach in the
OVC, returns six offensive and six defensive starters. Last season
the team’s potent offense ranked 10th nationally in passing
(299.55 yards/game) and 18th in scoring offense (33.55 points/game)
but lost its starting quarterback, its top two rushers and an
All-American wide receiver. The team does, however, return four
offensive linemen and senior wide receiver Jeremy Butler who hauled
in 10 touchdown catches a year ago. Defensively the team, who
ranked seventh nationally in turnover margin (+1.18/game) last
season, returns a pair of preseason All-OVC selections in senior
linebacker Ben Johnson and senior lineman DJ Roberts. Johnson
netted 131 total tackles last season, ranking him sixth nationally
in tackles/game (11.91) while Roberts led the team with 11.5
tackles-for-loss which ranked first in the OVC (1.14/game).
Murray State had its third-straight .500 or better Conference
record under Chris Hatcher last season, as the Racers were 4-4 in
league play with its high-octane offense. MSU ranked fifth
nationally in total offense (484.36 yards/game) and scoring offense
(39.18) behind All-American quarterback Casey Brockman. Brockman
has graduated (and will serve as quarterbacks coach for the team
this season) but the team does return eight offensive and nine
defensive starters. Offensively senior Walter Powell, one of three
OVC players on the Walter Payton Award Watch list, returns after
ranking second nationally in all-purpose yards (193.0/game) in
2012. Powell, who earned preseason All-OVC honors as both a wide
receiver and return specialist, was fourth nationally in
receptions/game (8.55), eighth in total receiving yards (1,213) and
ninth in receiving yards/game (110.27) last season while also
ranking fifth nationally in punt returns (15.84/return including an
all-time FCS record 100-yard return for a touchdown) and 19th in
kick returns (26.26 yards/return). His 94 total catches were
second-most in OVC single-season history (and would have set the
OVC record had it not been for Lora’s record-breaking season
for EIU). Also back is the running back duo of Jaamal Berry (674
yards, 7 TDs; 29 catches, 1 TD) and Duane Brady (589 yards, 8 TDs;
35 catches, 1 TD) who give the Racers a solid rushing attack. Among
the team’s defensive returnees is linebacker Sam Small who
missed last year with an injury but had 115 total tackles and 9.5
tackles-for-loss in 2011.
Tennessee Tech lost the battle to the injury bug last season,
seeing critical injuries across both sides of the ball. The
injuries led the defending OVC Champions to stumble to a 3-8
overall record and 1-7 Conference mark. This season head coach
Watson Brown, who enters his seventh season in Cookeville (and 29th
overall as a Division I head coach), returns 23 players who made at
least one start a season ago. Among the returning starters is
junior quarterback Darian Stone who was inserted into the lineup
after a season-ending injury to senior Tre Lamb. In starting the
final four games of the season Stone averaged 188 passing yards and
124 rushing yards/game. He was also named National Offensive Player
of the Week after leading the Golden Eagles to an overtime win over
nationally-ranked UT Martin; in that game he accounted for 467
yards of total offense, including 277 passing yards and three
touchdowns and 190 rushing yards (a TTU quarterback record). Also
returning is preseason All-OVC selection Chad Zinchini who averaged
44.77 yards/punt last season, a mark that ranked fifth nationally;
Zinchini booted 25 punts of 50 or more yards a season ago including
a long of 64.
Head coach Tony Samuel, the 2010 National Coach of the Year,
enters his eighth season at Southeast Missouri in 2013, tying him
for the longest tenured active coach in the league (with
UTM’s Jason Simpson). This season Samuel has six offensive
and three defensive starters returning along with 40 total
letterwinners. The Redhawks ground attack ranked eighth nationally
in rushing last season, averaging 262.36 yards/game. Quarterback
Scott Lathrop returns after being named OVC Freshman of the Year;
he passed for 1,025 yards and seven touchdowns and rushed for 824
yards and seven additional scores in his debut season with the
team. He will compete with redshirt junior Kyle Snyder who
transferred from Ohio University prior to last season but suffered
an injury in preseason workouts and missed the entire season.
Austin Peay ushers in a new head coach in 2013 as Kirby Cannon
takes over in Clarksville. Cannon joins the Governors program after
spending the past three years as the secondary coach at Central
Michigan and 11 years prior to that as the head coach at Missouri
S&T. APSU will have to replace many of its weapons on offense
from last season but does return senior offensive tackle Ben
Stansfield who was tabbed a preseason All-OVC pick.
2013 OVC Preseason Football Predicted Order of Finish
1. Eastern Illinois (12 first-place votes) -
122 points
2. Eastern Kentucky (4) - 114
3. Tennessee State (2) - 90
4. Jacksonville State - 87
5. UT Martin - 78
6. Murray State - 53
Tennessee Tech - 53
8. Southeast Missouri - 35
9. Austin Peay - 16
All-OVC
Preseason Football Team
Eastern Illinois senior wide receiver Erik Lora
was named 2013 Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Offensive Player of
the Year while Tennessee State junior cornerback Steven Godbolt III
was tabbed OVC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of
by the league’s head football coaches and sports information
directors.
Tennessee State led the way with seven selections on the preseason
team while Eastern Illinois had six and Eastern Kentucky had four.
Returning players who were first-team All-OVC selections last
season (11 in total) were automatic selections to the preseason
team this year. The squad also included 10 players who were
second-team selections in 2012. Of the 27 total selections, 19 were
seniors and eight were juniors.
The offensive unit was led by Lora, the reigning OVC Player of the
Year, who set the NCAA FCS record for receptions in a season (136)
in 2012. Lora also racked up 1,664 yards (fifth-most in FCS
history) and caught 12 touchdown passes, threw a touchdown pass and
also a two-point conversion that won his team an overtime contest.
He is the first wide receiver to be named Preseason OVC Offensive
Player of the Year since the honor was first handed out in 2008.
Lora will catch his passes this season from senior teammate Jimmy
Garoppolo, who was named the preseason quarterback pick after
throwing for an OVC record 3,823 yards last season (as well as 31
touchdowns). The duo both begin the season as two of 20 players on
the Walter Payton Award Watch List. The other wide receiver
selection is Murray State senior Walter Powell (94 catches, 1213
yards, 10 TDs) and the tight end choice was Tennessee State junior
A.C. Leonard (51 catches, 733 yards, 6 TDs). The running back picks
included Murray State senior Jamaal Berry (689 yards, 7 TDs) and
Jacksonville State junior DaMarcus James (867 yards, 6 TDs). The
offensive line included a pair of Tennessee State seniors in center
Demetrius Rhaney and guard Kadeem Edwards, Eastern Illinois junior
guard Collin Seibert, Austin Peay senior tackle Ben Stansfield,
Jacksonville State junior tackle Tarik Milner and Tennessee Tech
senior tackle Wesley Sherrill.
Defensively Godbolt ranked first nationally in interceptions/game
(0.60) last season, picking off six total passes in 10 games to go
along with 45 tackles, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles. He
is the first defensive back named Preseason OVC Defensive Player of
the Year since the honor was first handed out in 2008. The three
other defensive backs joining Godbolt on the team are Eastern
Illinois senior Nick Beard (85 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 9 PBU), Eastern
Kentucky junior Brandon Stanley (81 tackles, 3.0 TFL, 3 PBU, 2 FF)
and Tennessee State junior Daniel Fitzpatrick (61 tackles, 5.0 TFL,
1 INT, 8 PBU’s). The four defensive linemen selected to the
team were Eastern Illinois senior Pat Wertz (53 tackles, 8.5 TFL,
3.0 sacks, 3 FF), Eastern Kentucky senior Shawn Shupperd (56
tackles, 3.0 TFL), Tennessee State senior Antonio Harper (36
tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks) and UT Martin senior DJ Roberts (53
tackles, 11.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks). The defensive unit was rounded out
by four linebackers, Eastern Kentucky seniors Anthony Brown (60
tackles, 12.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 3 FF) and Ichiro Vance (56 tackles,
4.0 TFL), UT Martin senior Ben Johnson (131 tackles, 5.0 TFL, 4.0
sacks) and Tennessee State junior Nick Thrasher (105 tackles, 9.0
TFL).
Specialists selected to the preseason team include Eastern
Illinois senior kicker Cameron Berra (12-of-13 FG’s including
5-of-5 from 40-49, 48-of-52 PAT’s), Tennessee Tech senior
punter Chad Zinchini (44.8 yards/punt, 25 punts of 50+ yards, long
of 64) and Murray State’s Powell, who was selected as a
return specialist (15.8 yards/punt return, 1 TD; 26.3 yards/kick
return) in addition to being a selection at wide receiver.
2013 Preseason
All-OVC Football Team
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Erik Lora
(WR), Eastern Illinois
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Steven
Godbolt III (CB), Tennessee State
OFFENSE
QB - Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois
RB - DaMarcus James, Jacksonville State
RB - Jaamal Berry, Murray State
WR - Erik Lora, Eastern Illinois
WR - Walter Powell, Murray State
TE - A.C. Leonard, Tennessee State
C - Demetrius Rhaney, Tennessee State
OG - Kadeem Edwards, Tennessee State
OG - Collin Seibert, Eastern Illinois
OT - Ben Stansfield, Austin Peay
OT - Tarik Milner, Jacksonville State
OT - Wesley Sherrill, Tennessee Tech
DEFENSE
DL - Pat Wertz, Eastern Illinois
DL - Shawn Shupperd, Eastern Kentucky
DL - Antonio Harper, Tennessee State
DL - DJ Roberts, UT Martin
LB - Anthony Brown, Eastern Kentucky
LB - Ben Johnson, UT Martin
LB - Ichiro Vance, Eastern Kentucky
LB - Nick Thrasher, Tennessee State
DB - Nick Beard, Eastern Illinois
DB - Steven Godbolt III, Tennessee State
DB - Brandon Stanley, Eastern Kentucky
DB - Daniel Fitzpatrick, Tennessee State
SPECIALISTS
K - Cameron Berra, Eastern Illinois
P - Chad Zinchini, Tennessee Tech
RS - Walter Powell, Murray State
