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Three Ohio Valley Conference football student-athletes have been honored by the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) for the 2013 season.

Eastern Illinois senior Jimmy Garoppolo was named the FCS Quarterback of the Year while Tennessee State junior Daniel Fitzpatrick was named FCS Defensive Back of the Year. In addition Eastern Illinois senior Erik Lora was honored for his outstanding career with the "Elite Wide Receiver" Award for the FCS level.

The goal of College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams. Twenty-one CFPA winners have been first-round NFL Draft selections.

This postseason Garoppolo has also been named the Walter Payton Award winner (given to the top player in the FCS by the Sports Network), the FCS ADA National Offensive Player of the Year, the FCS ADA National Quarterback of the Year Award and been named an All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA, Sports Network and Walter Camp organizations. Garoppolo put together the finest season by an OVC quarterback in smashing virtually every OVC season and career record while leading his team to a 12-2 overall record, second-straight OVC Championship and berth in the FCS Playoff quarterfinals. In 14 games he completed 375-of-568 passes (66.0%) for 5,050 yards and 53 touchdowns (against only nine interceptions) while also rushing for four touchdowns and catching a touchdown pass. His 53 touchdowns were the fourth-most in FCS history (three behind the record) while his 5,050 yards is second all-time, just 26 behind the record set a year ago; he is one of just two players in FCS history to eclipse 5,000 passing yards in a season. In FCS career history his 118 touchdowns rank sixth, his 13,156 passing yards are seventh and his 13,089 yards of total offense ranks 10th. Garoppolo also ranked first nationally this season in passing yards/game (360.7), second in points responsible for/game (25.3), third in total offense (365.1 yards/game), third in passing efficiency (168.3) and fifth in completions/game (26.79).

He directed Eastern Illinois to the No. 1 ranked offense nationally in terms of both total offense (589.5 yards/game) and scoring offense (48.2 points/game). He and teammate Shepard Little became the first FCS duo to every throw for 5,000-plus yards in a season and rush for 1,000-plus yards (Little ran 1,548 yards) in the same season. Garoppolo, who was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Year, put up the stellar numbers despite the fact his team won games by an average margin of 30.8 points/contest and he was often taken out in the second half of games when his team had huge leads (25 of his 53 touchdowns came in the first quarter and 37 were in the first half this season), Garoppolo threw for 400 or more yards in five contests, including a season-high 480 yards (to go along with seven touchdowns) in a victory over rival Illinois State. In six other games he had over 300 yards passing and he threw multiple touchdowns in all but one game this season. He played some of his best games against Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, including 361 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-19 win over San Diego State and 450 yards and six touchdowns in a four-point loss at nationally-ranked foe Northern Illinois (in a game EIU led 20-0 in the first quarter). Garoppolo was named FCS National Player of the Week three times during the season and OVC Player of the Week a record-tying seven times (bringing his career total to nine, which also tied the OVC all-time mark).

Fitzpatrick has also been named the FCS ADA National Defensive Back of the Year this season as well as an All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA, Sports Network and Walter Camp organizations. He picked off six passes during the regular season and added two more in the team's first round FCS Playoff victory over Butler; the eight total interceptions were tied for the most by a Division I player (FBS or FCS) this season. Of those eight interceptions the junior returned three for touchdowns, scoring a 50-yarder against Jackson State in the Southern Heritage Classic in Memphis, returning what proved to be the game-winner 20 yards at UT Martin and a 26-yarder at Butler. He added a season-high nine tackles twice during the season, in a victory at nationally-ranked Jacksonville State and against nationally-ranked Eastern Illinois in the playoffs. During the middle of OVC play he had a stretch of three-straight and four of five games with at least one interception. His play was helped the Tennessee State secondary rank third nationally in passes intercepted (21) and ninth overall in turnovers gained (31). Overall the Tigers defense ranked sixth nationally in total defense (296.9 yards/game) and seventh in scoring defense (18.1 points/game) which helped the team win 10 games, finish second in the OVC, earn its first playoff berth since 1999 and its first playoff victory since 1986.

Lora has also been named the FCS ADA National Wide Receiver of the Year as well as an All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA, Sports Network and Walter Camp organizations.  He followed up his record breaking 2012 season (where he was named OVC Player of the Year) by catching 123 passes for 1,554 yards and 19 touchdowns in 14 games. The 123 catches were the second-most in NCAA FCS history, trailing only the record-setting 136 catches he had in 2012. The 1,544 yards were the second-most in OVC history (behind only his record of 1,664 set last year). His 19 receiving touchdowns were the most in OVC history as were his 35 career receiving touchdowns. Lora finished his career with 332 catches, second-most in FCS history while his 4,006 career receiving yards were the 11th-most in FCS history. Lora had eight games with double-digit catches in 2013, including a season-best 18 in the team's finale, a FCS quarterfinal matchup with Towson. He had 14 catches for 198 yards and three touchdowns in a game against FBS opponent Northern Illinois and added 10 catches for 186 yards and three scores in a win over rival Illinois State. In total he caught three touchdown passes in four different games.

2013 CFPA FCS Awards
National Performer of the Year -- Vernon Adams, Eastern Washington
National Defensive Performer of the Year -- Lynden Trail, Norfolk State
National Freshman Performer of the Year -- Drew Reed, Lafayette
All-Purpose Performer of the Year -- Diontae Spencer, McNeese State
Quarterback Award -- Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois
Running Back Award -- Terrance West, Towson
Wide Receiver Award -- Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington
Tight End Award -- MyCole Pruitt, Southern Illinois
Defensive End Award -- Shaquille Riddick, Gardner-Webb & Zach Hodges, Harvard
Defensive Tackle Award -- Sullivan Grosz, Cal Poly
Linebacker Award -- Kevin Kintzel, Western Illinois & Stephon Robertson, James Madison
Defensive Back Award -- Daniel Fitzpatrick, Tennessee State
Placekicker Award -- Seth Sebastian, Southeastern Louisiana
Punter Award -- Kyle Loomis, Portland State
Kickoff Returner Award -- Xavier Roberson, Southeastern Louisiana
Punt Returner Award -- Kevin Johnson, Lamar
Elite Placekicker Award -- Tyler Sievertsen, Northern Iowa
Elite All-Purpose Award -- Kyle Harbridge, Saint Francis U
Elite Defensive End Award -- Davis Tull, Chattanooga
Elite Running Back Award -- Zach Zenner, South Dakota State
Elite Wide Receiver Award -- Erik Lora, Eastern Illinois
Elite Linebacker Award -- Jordan Tripp, Montana
Elite Kickoff Returner Award -- Adrian Wilkins, North Carolina Central
Elite Tight End Award -- Justin Perillo, Maine
Elite Defensive Performer Award -- Tyler Starr, South Dakota