• Complete Phil Steele Preseason All-American Team
Twelve (12) Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named preseason Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-Americans by Phil Steele.
The selections included six on the first-team, one on the second-team, two on the third-team and three on the fourth-team.
The first-team picks were Eastern Illinois wide receiver
Erik Lora and kicker
Cameron Berra, Murray State punt returner
Walter Powell and the Tennessee State trio of offensive lineman
Kadeem Edwards, defensive back
Steven Godbolt III and tight end
A.C. Leonard.
Powell was also named to the second-team, this time as a wide receiver to go along with his first-team punt returner honors.
The third-team included Eastern Illinois quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo and Tennessee Tech punter
Chad Zinchini.
The fourth-team included Eastern Illinois offensive lineman
Kadeem Edwards, Eastern Kentucky linebacker
Anthony Brown and UT Martin linebacker
Ben Johnson.
The Phil Steele team is the fourth of the major preseason All-American teams released for the FCS.
Lora set the FCS record for pass receptions last year making 136 catches for 1,664 yards. The 1,664 yards was the fifth highest in FCS history. Lora set both the OVC and EIU record for single-game receptions with 21 during the season. He was named a consensus first team All-American following the 2012 season while finishing fourth in voting for the Walter Payton Award. Lora was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Year for football and the OVC Male Athlete of the Year encompassing all sports.
Leonard earned six All-American honors following last 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).
Edwards was a key back in the Tennessee State's running-game dominance last season as the Tigers averaged 175.7 yards/game on the ground.
Godbolt picked off six passes in 10 games last season 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.
Berra was a first team All-OVC selection at kicker last season leading the Panthers in scoring with 84 points. He was 12-of-13 on field goal attempts for the year including 5-of-5 from beyond 40 yards. Berra was 48-of-52 in point after attempts.
Powell averaged 15.8 yards on 19 punt returns a season ago. He returned a pair of punts for touchdowns, including setting an FCS record with a 100-yard punt return for a touchdown against Southeast Missouri. As a kick returner, Powell averaged 26.3 yards per return. As a receiver, Powell set new MSU single-season records for receptions and yards as he had 94 catches for 1,213 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also set a new school record with six 100-yard receiving games, including a stretch of four-straight games. He ended the season by catching at least one touchdown pass in six of the final seven games. Powell caught at least seven passes in nine games, including four games with at least 10 catches. He had a career day against UT Martin as he caught 14 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns.
Garoppolo was a second-team All-OVC selection last year while finishing 10th in voting for the Walter Payton Award. Garoppolo set the OVC single-season record for passing yards with 3,823. He finished the year completing 331-of-540 passes with 31 touchdowns. He had two games with more than 400 yards passing including a high of 453 with five touchdowns against Austin Peay.
Zinchini received All-OVC and All-America nods following the 2012 season after leading the OVC and ranking fourth in the nation in punting with an average of 44.8 yards on 65 kicks. His average set the school record. He downed 19 of his kicks inside the 20-yard line with only five touchbacks, and avoided having any of his punts blocked.
Pagliara was named to the fourth team All-American squad after helping to anchor an offensive line that paved the way for a 1,000 yard rusher and 3,800 yard passer. EIU's offense ranked in the top ten nationally in passing offense, scoring offense and total offense during the 2012 season.
Brown made the move from defensive line to linebacker last season and was a dominant force for the EKU defense. In 11 games he made 60 tackles (35 solo), 12.5 tackles-for-loss, 2.5 sacks, three pass breakups, six quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles.
Johnson is coming off an outstanding season in 2012, as his 11.9 tackles per game ranked sixth in the FCS. All in all, he ranked atop the OVC with 131 tackles (60 solo) while ranking fourth in the league in sacks (four). He also recorded five tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, one quarterback hurry and one pass breakup. Johnson's 131 tackles in 2012 was the seventh-highest in UTM single-season history. He enters the 2013 campaign just 17 tackles away from entering UT Martin's career top-10 list for all-time tackles. He has racked up 228 tackles while starting all 22 games in each of the past two seasons for the Skyhawks.
Phil Steele Preseason All-Americans From the OVC
WR - Erik Lora, Eastern Illinois (1st Team)
TE - A.C. Leonard, Tennessee State (1st Team)
OL - Kadeem Edwards, Tennessee State (1st Team)
DB - Steven Godbolt III, Tennessee State (1st Team)
K - Cameron Berra, Eastern Illinois (1st Team)
PR - Walter Powell, Murray State (1st Team)
WR - Walter Powell, Murray State (2nd Team)
QB - Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois (3rd Team)
P - Chad Zinchini, Tennessee Tech (3rd Team)
OL - Dominic Pagliara, Eastern Illinois (4th Team)
LB - Anthony Brown, Eastern Kentucky (4th Team)
LB - Ben Johnson, UT Martin (4th Team)