NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee State was picked to finish fifth at the Ohio Valley Conference Media Day.
The Tigers received 66 total points, behind Jacksonville State (128), Eastern Illinois (107), Eastern Kentucky (106) and UT Martin (78). TSU is picked to finish ahead of Southeast Missouri (63), Tennessee Tech (45), Murray State (38) and Austin Peay (17).
Tennessee State completed its third consecutive non-losing campaign under Rod Reed. Now in his sixth season as head coach, Reed returns 58 players from last year’s team including five offensive and three defensive starters.
The Tigers will need to replace six members of a defense that ranked 11th nationally in total defense (306.5 yards/game).
Senior defensive end Gabe Terry was the lone Tiger to be named to the preseason All-OVC team. Terry registered 11.5 sacks and forced two fumbles as a junior. The Palm Beach, Fla. native earned Second Team All-OVC honors for his efforts.
Offensively, junior Ronald Butler and red-shirt freshman O’Shay Ackerman-Carter will look to handle the offense behind center. Butler was named Second Team All-OVC as a freshman and looks to repeat his success, while Ackerman-Carter hopes to see time after an impressive spring season.
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