• Complete College Sports Journal All-American Team (PDF)
Six Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named to the 2012 College Sports Journal Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-America Team.
The six players were included on the 63-person squad. The OVC selctions included Eastern Illinois redshirt junior wide receiver
Erik Lora, Tennessee State sophomore tight end
A.C. Leonard, Tennessee State senior offensive lineman
Rogers Gaines, UT Martin senior defensive lineman
Montori Hughes, Tennessee State sophomore defensive back
Steven Godbolt III and Southeast Missouri State senior long snapper
Brandon Gabbard.
This marks the seventh first-team All-American selection of the year for Lora. He finished fourth in the Walter Payton Award balloting this year and earned OVC Offensive Player of the Year honors following his record setting season. Lora finished the year with 136 receptions which broke the previous FCS record of 123. He finished with 1,664 yards which is the fourth-highest single season total in FCS history. Along the way Lora set the school record for receptions and receiving yards in a game along with the OVC record for receptions in a game (21). Lora had seven games with double-figure receptions and two more with nine catches as he averaged 11.3 catches per game, the fourth-best single season average in FCS history. Lora opened the year with seven straight 100-yard receiving games, the most by an FCS receiver since 2000. He finished with nine 100-yard receiving games.
Leonard earned his sixth All-American honor of the season. In his first season with Tennessee State after transferring from Florida, Leonard caught 51 passes for 733 yards and six touchdowns in 10 games. The 733 yards were the most by a tight end at the FCS level this year and was the fourth most throughout all four divisions of college football (FBS, FCS, D-II and D-III).
Gaines, a left offensive tackle was a part of a TSU offensive line that led the OVC in rushing at 175.7 yards/game. The senior did not give up a sack all season and graded out at 93.6 percent.
Hughes finished the season with 42 tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss, 4.0 sacks and 13 quarterback hurries in 11 games. Hughes, who played his final two years with the team after transferring from Tennessee, helped the Skyhawks to an 8-3 record in 2012.
Godbolt earned his fifth All-American honor of the year. He picked off six passes in 10 games to finish first nationally in interceptions per game (0.60). He had two separate streaks during the 2012 season of three consecutive games with an interception.
Gabbard started every game and made three tackles on special teams this season. He snapped to punter Joe Vucic, who ranked third in the Ohio Valley Conference with 41.9 yards per punt. Gabbard started all 45 games of his four-year career as Southeast's long snapper. This marks his second All-American honor of the year.
In addition to those six players, six additional players were named honorable mention picks. Those players were Murray State quarterback
Casey Brockman, Eastern Illinois quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Kentucky wide receiver
Tyrone Goard, Murray State wide receiver
Walter Powell, Tennessee State offensive lineman
Sherman Carter and Eastern Illinois kicker
Cameron Berra.
OVC Players Selected to College Sports Journal All-American Team
WR - Erik Lora, Eastern Illinois
TE - A.C. Leonard, Tennessee State
OL - Rogers Gaines, Tennessee State
DL - Montori Hughes, UT Martin
DB - Steven Godbolt III, Tennessee State
LS - Brandon Gabbard, Southeast Missouri
Honorable Mention Picks: Casey Brockman, Murray State; Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois; Tyrone Goard, Eastern Kentucky; Walter Powell, Murray State; Sherman Carter, Tennessee State; Cameron Berra, Eastern Illinois.