An NCAA FCS record 136 receptions to go along with 1,664 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns has put red-shirt junior wide receiver Erik Lora in a category of his own.

The Miami, Fla., native has cemented himself among the best receivers in NCAA history despite missing the entire 2011 season with a hip injury. Lora’s breakout season had him being nominated for the Walter Payton Award for the nation’s top FCS player as well as claiming Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and being named to the OVC first-team.

“It’s surreal,” Lora said. “I never would have thought that I would be the offensive player of the year. I knew I had a bigger role on the team, but I never expected something like this.”

Lora adjusted quickly to first-year head coach Dino Babers’ up-tempo offense, totaling 151 yards and two touchdowns on 13 receptions in the season-opening game against in-state rival Southern Illinois-Carbondale.

“The first (game) was kind of a shocker,” Lora said. “No one really thought a kid who didn’t play last year could have such a big game with two touchdowns and 13 catches.”

Following back-to-back 100-yard receiving games against Western Michigan and Illinois State, Lora rewrote program and OVC record books with a 21-catch performance that had him totaling 269 receiving yards and three touchdowns against Murray State. His 21 receptions broke an OVC record that stood untouched for 43 years.

“Honestly, I never thought I would set a record,” he said. “I set pretty high standards for myself, but never would I have thought that I would break school and conference records.”

Lora capped off his record-setting performance by throwing the game-winning two-point conversion to red-shirt senior wide receiver Von Wise to secure the overtime win at 50-49.

Following his record-setting performance, Lora continued to play at a high level, recording seven straight games with 100 receiving yards or more dating back to the season-opening game against Southern Illinois-Carbondale. Lora’s streak with at least 100 receiving yards came to an end on Oct. 27 against Eastern Kentucky when he totaled 97 yards and a touchdown on 10 receptions.

Lora was held under the 100-yard mark the following week against Tennessee Tech, but rounded out the regular season with a 100-yard performance against Southeast Missouri and then set the FCS record for receptions in a single season against Central Arkansas in the regular season finale. Lora totaled 178 yards and a touchdown on 15 receptions against Southeast Missouri and set the FCS record for receptions in a single-season when he hauled in his 124th reception of the year against Central Arkansas.

Lora finished his year with 1,664 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns on 136 receptions and earned high praise from head coach Dino Babers.

“You would pay a lot of money to watch Erik Lora play football,” Babers said. “That guy can be in my foxhole anytime. He is unselfish, team first and there is no I in Erik Lora. Any accolades he gets, any awards he gets, it’s deserved.”

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-2812 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.