College Sports Journal All-America Team  |

Six Ohio Valley Conference football players have been named to the 2012 College Sports Journal Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-America Team led by Eastern Illinois wide receiver Erik Lora.  Jimmy Garoppolo and Cameron Berra were honorable mention selections.

The six players were included on the 63-person squad. The OVC selections 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.

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.

Garoppolo earned second team All-OVC honors at quarterback while finishing 10th in the Walter Payton Award balloting this year.  He passed for 3,823 yards with 31 touchdowns to rank seventh in the NCAA in total offense. 

Berra earned first team All-OVC honors as a place kicker leading the Panthers in scoring with 84 points.  Berra was 12-of-13 on field goal attempts and 48-of-52 on extra point attempts.  His season long was 44 yards as he was 5-of-5 from beyond 40 yards on the season.

EIU will open the 2012 season on August 31 at San Diego State.  The Panthers are coming off a 7-5 season in which they won the OVC regular season title advancing to the schools 14th' FCS playoff appearance.