Georgia Southern athletic director, Tom Kleinlein, held a press conference this morning about the suspension of senior quarterback Kevin Ellison.

His opening remarks were as follows, “Obviously, not a type of a press conference I like holding. Kevin Ellison will be suspended for the first two games of the season for failure to meet academic requirements according to NCAA policy.”

Kleinlein spoke with Ellision and he commented on their conversation by stating, “Ellison has done what he can to mitigate the situation. He’s extremely disappointed. But at the same time our team is going rally behind him and we’re going to press forward.”

Kleinlein was positive, however, and believes that this will serve as an opportunity for others to learn from this. “I think when we walk away from this situation, our team and our younger student-athletes, will further realize and understand the importance of our academics.”

Last season, there was a two-quarterback system implemented by Coach Fritz. In doing so, this enabled now current starting quarterback, Favian Upshaw, to gain significant playing time. His experience as backup quarterback last season proved his ability to step up and lead the Eagles through 11 games. Upshaw was credited with completing 19 of 27 passes for a passer completion rating of 70.4% and 385 rushing yards for a highly impressive 9.6 yards per carry. Furthermore, Upshaw was credited with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns.