Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo, who led the league in pass efficiency, and his teammate, linebacker Nick Ricks, who led the conference in tackles, earned top honors on the 2002 All-OVC football team in voting by the league's head football coaches and sports information directors.
Romo becomes the first player in conference history to win three consecutive OVC Offensive Player of the Year awards, while Ricks was chosen as the OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Southeast Missouri head coach Tim Billings earned the league's Coach of the Year award, guiding the Indians to an 8-4 overall record after having posted a 4-7 mark in 2001.
Romo, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound senior from Burlington, Wisc., completed 237-of-363 passes for 2,950 yards and threw for an OVC-record 33 TD's in leading the Panthers to a share of their second straight league title. His passing yardage total in 2002 was the third-highest in OVC history and he ranks third on the league’s all-time passing list. He is currently fourth in all of I-AA in pass efficiency (155.3 rating) and he guided an EIU offense which averaged 470.2 yards per game in total offense. Romo is one of 16 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which honors the top offensive player in Division I-AA. He previously won the OVC Offensive Player of the Year in 2000 after tying an OVC record with 27 touchdown passes, which he broke this season, and in 2001, after leading the nation in pass efficiency. He has thrown a TD pass in all but one game he has started in his career at EIU.
Ricks, a 6-foot, 200-pound junior from Deerfield Beach, Fla., led the OVC with an average of 12.7 tackles per game. He led the conference with 140 stops, and an OVC-best 20 of them went for loss. Ricks was also tops in the league with seven forced fumbles. Ricks, who is one of the 16 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award which honors the top defensive player in Division I-AA, was named OVC Defensive Player of the Week and national defensive player of the week after registering 25 tackles, four hits for loss, two forced fumbles and a recovered fumble in the Panthers’ win over Eastern Kentucky on Oct. 12. Ricks played a big role in Eastern Illinois posting an 8-3 overall record and claiming a share of their second straight league title.
Billings earned OVC Coach of the Year honors for the first time after guiding Southeast Missouri to a remarkable turnaround in 2002. The Indians went 8-4 overall and 4-2 in the conference, posting their best record in 33 years. The four conference victories are the most for Southeast since 1995, and they are ranked 22nd in the latest I-AA Top 25 polls. Southeast finished second in the conference in scoring offense (34.7 ppg) this season and ranked seventh in I-AA in total offense (447.3 ypg). The Indians claimed the OVC’s first win over a I-A program in five years when they beat Middle Tennessee on Sept. 28.
Eastern Illinois had eight players selected to the All-OVC first team, while Eastern Kentucky had six and Murray State had five. Joining Romo and Ricks from EIU were senior running back J.R. Taylor, sophomore center Scott Sholl, senior guard Kevin Hill, sophomore tackle Mike Bujnak, junior tight end Nick Eller and junior return specialist Andre Raymond. Making the squad from EKU were junior guard Larry Turner, senior defensive linemen Marcus Adams and Nick Hill, sophomore linebacker Justen Rivers and senior defensive back Sunsett Graham. Selected from MSU were senior running back Billy Blanchard, junior wide receiver Deandre Green, senior tackle Clint Parker, junior kicker Shane Andrus and senior punter Brian Bivens.
Also named to the All-OVC first team were senior linebacker Jermaine Beale and junior defensive backs Deon Giddens and Scott Cunningham of Tennessee State; senior receiver Willie Ponder and senior defensive lineman James Jennette of Southeast Missouri; senior defensive lineman D.J. Bleisath of Tennessee Tech and junior defensive back Perez Boyd of Tennessee-Martin.
Romo, Ponder, Andrus and Bivens were all unanimous selections to the first team.
2002 ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM
(Selected by OVC Head Football Coaches and Sports Information Directors)
First Team
OFFENSE
Player, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Tony Romo, Eastern Illinois* QB 6'3 215 Sr. Burlington, Wisc.
Billy Blanchard, Murray State RB 5’11 210 Sr. Aberdeen, Miss.
J.R. Taylor, Eastern Illinois* RB 6'2 215 Sr. Mt. Zion, Ill.
Deandre Green, Murray State WR 6’1 215 Jr. Prichard, Ala.
Willie Ponder, Southeast Missouri* WR 6'2 195 Sr. Tulsa, Okla.
Nick Eller, Eastern Illinois TE 6’4 270 Jr. Hubbard, Iowa
Scott Sholl, Eastern Illinois# C 6'3 285 Sr. Machesney Park, Ill.
Kevin Hill, Eastern Illinois* OG 6'3 285 Sr. Lisle, Ill.
Larry Turner, Eastern Kentucky OG 6’2 280 Jr. Huber Heights, Ohio
Mike Bujnak, Eastern Illinois* OT 6'5 288 So. Belleville, Ill.
Clint Parker, Murray State# OT 6'4 295 Sr. Cedar Grove, Tenn.
Shane Andrus, Murray State* PK 5'10 180 Jr. Murray, Ky.
Andre Raymond, Eastern Illinois# RET 5’11 201 Jr. Hialeah, Fla.
DEFENSE
Player, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Marcus Adams, Eastern Kentucky* DL 5'11 274 Sr. Indianapolis, Ind.
D.J. Bleisath, Tennessee Tech* DL 6'5 255 Sr.. Canton, Ga.
Nick Hill, Eastern Kentucky DL 6’0 250 Sr. Miami, Fla.
James Jennette, Southeast Missouri# DL 5'11 310 Sr. St. Louis, Mo.
Jermaine Beale, Tennessee State# LB 6'1 235 Sr. Atlanta, Ga.
Nick Ricks, Eastern Illinois* LB 6'0 200 So. Deerfield Beach, Fla.
Justen Rivers, Eastern Kentucky LB 5’10 232 So. Columbus, Ga.
Perez Boyd, Tennessee-Martin DB 6’1 180 Sr. Starkville, Miss.
Scott Cunningham, Tennessee State DB 5’10 170 Jr. Orlando, Fla.
Deon Giddens, Tennessee State DB 5’10 180 Jr. Nashville, Tenn.
Sunsett Graham, Eastern Kentucky DB 5’9 206 Sr. Homestead, Fla.
Brian Bivens, Murray State P 6’4 192 Sr. Henderson, Ky.
* - denotes All-OVC first team in 2001 # - denotes All-OVC second team in 2001
OVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tony Romo, Eastern Illinois
OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nick Ricks, Eastern Illinois
OVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Tim Billings, Southeast Missouri
Second Team
OFFENSE
Player, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Jack Tomco, Southeast Missouri QB 6’5 230 Jr. Anchorage, Alaska
C.J. Hudson, Eastern Kentucky* RB 5'7 200 So. Frostproof, Fla.
Corey Kinsey, Southeast Missouri RB 5’9 185 So. Miami, Fla.
C.J. Johnson, Tennessee State* WR 5'10 175 Jr. Nashville, Tenn.
Andre Raymond, Eastern Illinois# WR 5’11 201 Jr. Hialeah, Fla.
Steve Farmer, Tennessee State* TE 6'5 255 Sr. Michigan City, Ind.
Eugene Amano, Southeast Missouri# C 6'3 295 Jr. San Pedro, Cal.
Dan Bieg, Southeast Missouri OG 6’4 300 So. St. Louis, Mo.
Chris Rosenlund, Eastern Illinois OG 6’6 299 Sr. Yreka, Cal.
Frank Castagnoli, Eastern Illinois OT 6’4 283 Jr. Channahon, Ill.
Dan Connolly, Southeast Missouri# OT 6'4 292 So. St. Louis, Mo.
Joey Hudak, Tennessee State K 5’11 160 So. Miami, Fla.
Carlos Wright, Tennessee State RET 6’2 200 Jr. Middleburg, Fla.
DEFENSE
Player, School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown
Clint Alexander, Eastern Illinois DL 6’3 257 Sr. Chicago Heights, Ill.
Chad Dewberry, Eastern Kentucky DL 6’1 218 So. Griffin, Ga.
Ryan Roth, Southeast Missouri DL 6’4 275 Jr. Naperville, Ill.
John Ruff, Tennessee Tech DL 6’4 210 Sr. El Paso, Texas
Ricky Farmer, Southeast Missouri LB 6’0 215 Jr. Ft. Myers, Fla.
Fred Miller, Eastern Illinois* LB 6'1 215 Jr. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Bobby Sanders, Murray State LB 6'0 205 Jr. Benton, Ky.
Daniel Wentzel, Tennessee Tech LB 5’10 195 Jr. Ellenwood, Ga.
Obinno Coley, Eastern Illinois DB 5’10 185 Sr. Evanston, Ill.
Mandrell McGregory, Murray State DB 6’1 188 Sr. Clarksdale, Miss.
Dimitri Patterson, Southeast Missouri DB 6’0 185 So. Orlando, Fla.
Marco Tipton, Southeast Missouri DB 5’9 160 Jr. St. louis, Mo.
Demetrick Westbrook, Murray State DB 6’2 200 So. Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Phil Kuhl, Eastern Kentucky P 6’1 188 So. Florence, Ky.
Four linebackers and five defensive backs were chosen to the second team due to ties in the voting.
Honorable Mention: Josh Foster, C, Murray State; Burt Shurette, OG, Tennessee Tech; Jeremy Goodman, OT, Murray State; Justin Meyer, OT, Southeast Missouri