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RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University football team came up one game short of the 2010 Ohio Valley Conference title, but did win its final four games last season which gives the squad a bit of momentum heading into the 2011 campaign. Two of the wins at the end of 2010 came against the 2011 preseason OVC favorites – Jacksonville State and Murray State.

“It’s certainly better to end the season on a four-game winning streak than a four-game losing streak,” EKU head coach Dean Hood said. “We do have a little bit of a spark so to speak with the offseason and are excited to get next season started.”

The Colonels have plenty of experience and talent returning on both sides of the ball. Nine of 11 starters are back on offense including junior quarterback #T.J. Pryor#, who was the 2009 OVC Freshman of the Year. Pryor has started 18 games under center the last two seasons and his consistent performance will play a key role in Eastern’s hunt for another league crown. Junior wide receiver Orlandus Harris will provide plenty of help for Pryor in the passing game. Harris, a preseason All-OVC pick, finished second in the league in receiving yards (960) one year ago.

The defense is loaded with five preseason all-conference selections – sophomore defensive lineman Anthony Brown, senior defensive lineman Emory Attig, senior linebacker Tyson Patrick, senior defensive back Jeremy Caldwell and senior defensive back Patrick McClellan.

“I would say our strength [on defense] will be the secondary which features numerous veteran guys with explosive capabilities,” Hood said.

Perhaps the best unit on the team is the punting group. Punter Jordan Berry set a program-record and ranked seventh nationally in FCS in punting average last year at 42.9 yards per punt. Berry was only a redshirt freshman in 2010 and took his snaps from a true freshman long snapper – Danny Adams.

Two of the few changes on the team will be new offensive and defensive coordinators. Dane Damron, who had handled special teams for the previous two years, will now be calling plays for the offense. Meanwhile, defensive backs coach Tony Hatmaker was promoted to defensive coordinator in the spring.

“Not much is going to change on defense,” Hood said. “The defensive staff and players really flourished in the spring. I think we will play faster and I think we will be simpler [on offense]. I feel good about the direction of the offense under coach Damron’s leadership and good about the quality of personnel on the roster.”

Quarterbacks
Pryor is unquestionably the top quarterback heading into training camp. As a sophomore, he was the first Eastern Kentucky quarterback to lead the team in rushing (505 yards) since 1963. The Louisville native is also quickly closing in on 4,000 career passing yards. Late in 2010, Pryor threw four touchdown passes and ran for another to help the Colonels defeat Tennessee Tech, 42-29.

The biggest question mark at quarterback is the back-up.

“That’s been our issue [since I’ve been here],” Hood said. “We haven’t had a back-up.”

Sophomore Brendon Gregory, one of the back-ups last season, injured his knee in October and hopes to be back to full health this fall. Eastern has also picked up Victor Perez, a junior college quarterback from California, to help fill the void. Two incoming freshmen – Travis Carlyle and Jared McClain – give EKU some insurance at the position, but coach Hood would like to redshirt both of those players.

Running Backs
There is plenty of competition at running back heading into preseason camp as five players will take aim at the top spot.

After asserting himself as the lead back in 2010, senior Kyle Lumpkin went down with a knee injury in October. Senior #H.B. Banjoma#n did an admirable job carrying the load the rest of the season as he produced a rushing touchdown in five straight games to end the year. Banjoman also rolled to a personal-high 103 yards rushing at Tennessee Tech in November.

Besides Lumpkin and Banjoman, junior Matt Denham, redshirt freshman Caleb Watkins and junior college transfer Jeremiah Williams could be in the mix for playing time at running back.

“I would like to be able to say this is our guy and let’s ride him until he’s tired,” Hood said. “Denham had a really good spring for us and H.B. brings something to the table with his physicality. Caleb Watkins was a guy we wanted to see, but he was hurt all spring.”

Denham averaged a whopping 11.2 yards per carry last fall which included a 41-yard scamper at Louisville that eventually led to an EKU score. Watkins was redshirted in 2010, but may be the running back of the future for the Colonels.

Wide Receivers
A pair of playmakers headlines the wide receivers unit.

“We are not deep at wide receiver, but we are talented,” Hood said. “Orlandus Harris and Tyrone Goard are as good as anyone in our league. Justin Williams has also shown flashes at times.”

Harris is one of the top returning wide receivers in the conference. He became the first Colonel in seven years to post 200-yards receiving when he finished with 205 yards and two scores in the win over Jacksonville State. Harris proved it wasn’t a fluke the following week at Tennessee Tech as he piled up 200 more receiving yards.

Goard is a match-up problem for defenses due to his 6-5 frame. He can stretch the field as evidenced by his average of 15.8 yards per catch last year. Williams battled injuries on-and-off as a redshirt freshman, but gives the Colonels an athletic and versatile third option at wide out.

Senior Chris Moore and junior college transfer Cameron Bailey give the unit a little bit of depth.

Tight Ends
Tight ends did not have much of an impact on the offense one season ago as the entire unit hauled in just five receptions. However, coach Hood believes that is about to change in 2011.

“We now have three guys at tight end who I think are as good as anyone in the league,” Hood said.

Sophomore Matt Lengel should literally pose a huge problem for opposing defenses. The 6-7 transfer from Northeastern caught four passes in his first year on the EKU squad in 2010. Fellow sophomore Nathan Watts also has a year of experience under his belt to provide some quality depth.

Finally, junior Paul Henry moved from defensive line to tight end in the spring. Henry was originally recruited as a tight end only to play offensive and defensive line in his three years on the team.

Offensive Line
The offensive line should look almost identical to the one that Eastern utilized in 2010. This year’s projected line-up features three seniors and two juniors.

Three returning starters played in all 11 games last fall – senior left tackle Joe Arnason, junior center #O.J. Enabosi and senior right tackle Derek Moore#.

Junior Patrick Ford, who lined up at right guard as a sophomore, has been moved to left guard.

“One guy that should have been in the mix last year, but was held back due to injury after injury was Kevin Brown,” Hood said. “He had a great spring and I look for good things out of him. The rest of those guys are going to be back and better.”

Brown, another senior in the group, saw limited action throughout much of 2010 due to a hand injury. By the end of the season, Brown had become a major contributor and even started the November game at Tennessee Tech.

Depth is always a concern on any football team’s offensive line. Eastern Kentucky is fortunate to have quality reserves in senior Josh Miller, sophomore Justin Meredith, junior Aaron Adams and junior college transfer Andrew Melton.

Defensive Line
Last year’s defensive line took pride in limiting the opposition to an OVC-best 125.5 yards per game rushing. Senior all-conference tackle Emory Attig is the leader of the unit.

Attig has started 22 consecutive games heading into the 2011 season opener and he finished fourth on the squad with 8.5 tackles for loss as a junior.

The Colonels have a pair of emerging stand-outs at defensive end in sophomores Anthony Brown and Shawn Shupperd. Brown notched 6.5 sacks as a redshirt freshman, which was second most in the OVC. Shupperd did a little of everything a season ago as he tallied two sacks, two forced fumbles, an interception and a blocked punt.

“Both of those players are dynamite on the outside,” Hood said. “Where we will have to step up to ease the pain is at defensive tackle for Andrew Soucy.”

Soucy was a three-year starter for EKU and the 2010 OVC Defensive Player of the Year. Besides Attig, looking to fill Soucy’s shoes will be sophomores David Carter and Devin Gainer.

Junior Robert Knowles is another important piece on the defensive line. He provides more of a physical presence at defensive end. Junior college transfer Angelo Villarreal gives Eastern another physical body on the outside.

Linebackers
The linebacker position is one of the few on the field that has a lot of turnover for 2011. Gone are two-time All-OVC honoree Jordan Dalrymple and Antonio Fredrick, who finished fifth on the team in tackles as a senior.

“The guy who I think will step up based on performance in the spring is Tyrelle Johnson,” Hood said. “Ichiro Vance is going to be much improved. He played a lot for us last year, but there were some growing pains that went along with it. He’s got the motor and mentality to grow into a good leader for our guys.”

Vance is expected to fill Dalrymple’s position at middle linebacker. Johnson and Iowa State transfer Kevin Hamlin will compete for Fredrick’s old position at the weak side spot.

Senior Tyson Patrick is the lone returning starter in the group. The preseason all-league selection notched 9.5 tackles for loss at strong side linebacker as a junior. His best game came against Jacksonville State when he recorded personal highs in tackles (nine) and sacks (2.5).

There are plenty of quality reserves who could see time in different defensive packages or on special teams. Redshirt freshman Jalan Jones is penciled in as the back-up to Patrick and registered five tackles in the spring game. Sophomore Tyler Horn and junior Nick Vicini both played in all 11 games last year, and continue to improve every season on the team.

Defensive Backs
Coach Hood tends to have a personal connection with the defensive backs unit because he himself played the position in college and then climbed the coaching ranks as a secondary coach. Three of the four starters from last year are back including corner back Jeremy Caldwell, who was named to the Buck Buchanan Award watch list (top defensive player in FCS) for a second consecutive year.

Caldwell has gotten his hands on 13 career interceptions, three of which have been returned for touchdowns. Last year at Louisville, Caldwell returned a third-quarter interception 80 yards for a score.

Expected to start at the opposite corner this year is junior Justin Bell, who had to sit out last season.

“It’s a shame we lost Justin for the year in 2010 because we could have had two Jeremy Caldwell’s on the field last year,” Hood said. “He is an explosive player just like Jeremy.”

Senior Patrick McClellan is slated to start at safety for a third straight season. The 2010 all-league pick not only calls all the plays for the defense, but led the Colonels with 68 tackles and five pass break-ups a season ago.

Junior Brooklyn Fox rounds out the starting defensive backs at free safety.

A new addition to the group will be Zavier Foster. The sophomore totaled 41 tackles and two sacks as a weak side linebacker last fall, but was moved to safety due to his explosive game. Fellow sophomore Myer Nolan will see valuable time on the outside as well.

Special Teams
Coach Hood plans to coordinate special teams this year and has plenty of exciting players to oversee.

Punting should be in excellent hands with Berry. Not only did Berry average an OVC-best 42.9 yards per punt last year, he boomed a 75-yard kick at UT Martin. That punt was just three yards shy of the EKU all-time record.

Scheduled to handle kick and punt return duties will be Caldwell. He averaged a program single-season record 33.7 yards per kick return as a junior which propelled him to second-team All-America honors. Caldwell also returned a pivotal punt for a touchdown in the season finale win over Austin Peay.

“We were really poor at kicking the ball last year,” Hood said. “We have got to improve there. We hope we have helped ourselves there by signing a junior college kicker and we hope that Austin Delpont matures.”

The Colonels made only 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) field goal attempts in the 2010 campaign. Three of those misses came in the 10-7 loss at UT Martin.

Delpont was redshirted a year ago, but was an all-state performer in high school. Competing with Delpont will be sophomore Luke Pray, who made 6-of-7 attempts from 40-plus yards last year at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

The Schedule
The 2011 schedule opens with four night contests including the season opener at Big 12 opponent Kansas State on Sept. 3. This will be the first meeting between the two squads.

EKU then returns home to face Missouri State (Sept. 10) and Chattanooga (Sept. 17). The Colonels will need to earn a victory in at least one of those two games to help their case for a potential FCS playoff berth. Chattanooga, out of the Southern Conference, is predicted to be a top-25 FCS team by many of the major polls.

Eastern begins OVC action with two road games at Austin Peay (Sept. 24) and Eastern Illinois (Oct. 8). The last time the Colonels visited Clarksville, Austin Peay pulled out a 24-20 upset.

“The OVC is wide open,” Hood said. “That’s what I noticed when I came back here. There’s parity in the OVC and anybody can beat anybody on any given week. You better be ready to play every single week.”

The Colonels face defending league champion Southeast Missouri (Oct. 15) at home before welcoming Tennessee State (Oct. 22) for Homecoming.

EKU then faces the OVC preseason favorites – Murray State and Jacksonville State – in back-to-back road games on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.

The regular season concludes with home games against Tennessee Tech (Nov. 12) and UT Martin (Nov. 19). The Colonels are a combined 37-8 versus those two teams in Richmond.

For a second consecutive year, the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs will feature 20 teams and begin on Nov. 26 with four first-round games. Ten conferences earn automatic bids to the playoffs – Big Sky, Big South, Colonial, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern and Southland. The FCS championship game is slated for Jan. 6 or 7, 2012 in Frisco, Texas.