College football is upon us and the first official game of the 2020 college football season will be played this evening at the Crampton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama when Football Championship Subdivision rivals Central Arkansas and Austin Peay square off in a non-conference matchup.
The 2020 Guardian Credit Union FCS Kickoff is the only game on the slate this weekend, and it pits playoff teams from a year ago with the Governors of Austin Peay (11-4, 7-1 in 2019) who won the Ohio Valley Conference for the first time since 1977 and reached the FCS quarterfinals, losing to Montana State.
Central Arkansas shared the Southland championship with Nicholls State after going 9-4.
Central Arkansas is a five-point favorite and with all of the eyes of the football squarely focused on this game, here’s a rundown of the NFL Draft prospects to watch.
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1. Robert Rochell (#9), CB, Central Arkansas
An athletic, lanky cover man with ball skills, Rochelle is currently projected in 4th-6th round range after a 2019 season that saw him start all 13 games while leading the team in interceptions (5) for the second consecutive year.
Rochell will have all eyes on him Saturday after he landed on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks” list as the No. 12 overall player.
Feldman: Get to know this dude. He’s a former track stud from Louisiana who has really blossomed at Central Arkansas. NFL scouts are really intrigued by him. He’s a shade under 6-1 (6-0 7/8) and weighs 197 pounds. His coach Nathan Brown says he’s broad jumped 11-8 (!!) and has vertical jumped 41 inches. His 40 time is 4.38, and his short shuttle is 3.98. His 60-yard shuttle time is 10.98. Those are all big-time numbers. In 2019, he broke up 18 passes and intercepted five others.
DB coaches always instruct to become the receiver when the ball is in the air. @UCA_Football CB #9 Robert Rochell (@scootaa11) took it to heart on this play vs WKU. Rochell has that coveted length #NFL teams desire & is 1 reason why he’s high on the @NFLPABowl list!#BearClawsUp pic.twitter.com/0fWqJt7z6z
— Dane Vandernat (@DVandernat) July 14, 2020
2. J.W. Jones (#50), Edge Rusher, Central Arkansas
A tad stiff, but strong, active and agile, Jones appeared in all 13 games at defensive end, finishing the season with 37 total tackles, including 17 solos… Jones tied for team-lead with 10.5 tackles for loss (-38 yards), he also had team-high 5.5 sacks (-26 yards), two pass breakups, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery
3. Central Arkansas QB Breylin Smith
The Eagles are in the business of developing quarterbacks and Smith could be the next guy in line. With Smith in charge, the Bears’ passing attack averaged 292.8 yards per game last season. The junior All-Southland quarterback completed 64.5 percent of his passes on the way to a school-record 3,704 yards and 32 touchdowns. At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, Smith has all the NFL eyes on him this evening. Smith’s late mother played basketball and volleyball at UCA, his father played linebacker at Stephen F. Austin, his uncle Travian Smith played several years for the Oakland Raiders and another uncle, Ike Thomas, was a second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys.
4. Austin Peay WR DeAngelo Wilson (#11)
Undersized, but quick and productive, Wilson had 89 receptions for 1,564 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.
Wilson is on the radar of NFL scouts and at 5-foot-9, he’ll work primarily out of the slot. He’s a player to keep an eye on based on his future 40-yard dash times.
5. Austin Peay RB Brian Snead (#4)
A redshirt sophomore, Snead saw action in eight games at Iowa Western, finishing with 364 yards and eight touchdowns on 92 carries. The former Rivals four-star recruit started his career at Ohio State, where he played two games as a freshman, finishing with 11 carries for 37 yards and a touchdown before being suspended by then-coach Urban Meyer.
6. Austin Peay, DB, Kordell Jackson
A consensus All-American in 2019, Jackson finished with seven interceptions, two returned for a touchdown, 8 tackles for loss, and 10 more pass breakups. He’s another player on scouts radar but could have concerns about his size as he’s listed at 5-9, 185 pounds.
7. Central Arkansas, WR, Lujuan Winningham
Winningham, who was named to the All-Southland team after catching 50 passes in nine games, including an 80-yard TD, all while missing four games with a broken arm. Listed at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Winningham hauled in eight catches for 136 yards and two scores in last seasons meeting.
8. Josephus Smith, DT, Austin Peay
The defensive unit is led up front by the 285-pounder, who had 7.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss last season.
9. Jeremiah Oatsvall, junior QB (#6)
Another athletic marvel under center, Austin Peay’s rise up the ranks can be attributed to Oatsvill signing his letter of intent. Oatsvall, an undersized but athletic quarterback, was the OVC Freshman of the Year in 2017. Last fall, he was the preseason OVC Player of the Year but missed season with injury against Central Arkansas in Week 2.
As a sophomore, Oatsvill played in all 11 games and starting eight, including the final seven contests of the year, completing 104-of-201 passes for 1,631 yards and 20 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. Oatsvill led the OVC and finished fourth nationally in yards per completion at 15.68, while also finishing second on the team with 517 yards rushing and six touchdowns.
