Georgia Southern Offensive Fall Camp Questions

1) Who is going to play quarterback?

Kevin Ellison was the QB for the epic victory against Florida and led the triple option attack last season, but he was rarely called upon to throw the ball. Everyone has heard by now of how Georgia Southern beat Florida without completing a single pass. That's all well and good, but it's not going to work every week on the FBS level. If Georgia Southern hopes to have any success at all, the QBs are going to have to improve throwing the football. Ellison is shifty, fast, and excellent at running the triple option, but Head Coach Willie Fritz's offense is not the Flexbone. The most likely challenger to Ellison's seat as the starter is Favian Upshaw. Matt Yogus of the Statesboro Herald wrote an excellent write-up on Georgia Southern's first scrimage last Saturday. From there, it's clear that Upshaw is pushing Ellison. To me it may come down to who is the better passer. While Willie Fritz's offenses still lean heavily toward the run, they are still more balanced than Georgia Southern has been over the past few years. If their command of the offense is even close to equal (Ellison appears to be the leader there at the moment) by the first game, I believe it will come down to who throws the ball better.

2) Who is going to be the starting running back?

I've been watching and following Georgia Southern for my entire life and Georgia Southern always has great running backs. Looking at Georgia Southern's roster right now, I honestly do not recognize a single name listed at RB outside of tiny little Devin Scott. Nardo Govan played the B-back position a good bit last season, but he's been moved to TE. Last season saw starter Dominique Swope go down to injury early and injuries so depleted the RB corps that QB Jerick McKinnon was moved to RB for depth. He did a pretty good job, there.

via i.imgur.com

But McKinnon is gone, now. He's backing up "the other Adrian Peterson" (as opposed to NCAA rushing records holder and former Georgia Southern RB Adrian Peterson) for the Vikings. I would love to be able to say Swope, who did this to Alabama as a freshman was redshirted last season and has two more years to play for Georgia Southern. Unfortunately, I can't say that.

As I've already noted, Willie Fritz's offense is very run-oriented. So someone is going to have to step up in a very big way in order for Georgia Southern to be successful on offense this season. Matt Yogus reported that Matt Breida and Alfred Ramsby were the primary backs in his aforementioned scrimmage report. These are a sophomore and redshirt freshmen, respectively. With QBs Ellison and Upshaw both Sophomores, it's obvious that Georgia Southern is going to be very young on offense this season in two of it's most important positions.

3) How will the kicking game look?

Kicking has been a nagging issue at Georgia Southern for the past few seasons. We went from having one of the most accurate kickers in the NCAA in Adrian Mora to struggling to find consistent kickers of the last two seasons. The lack of a consistent kicker aided in key Georgia Southern losses in 2012 that may have swung the balance of that season considerably. Based on the end of last season, Younghue Koo is the likely candidate after finishing the season with good stats and proving he has a strong leg with a 49 yard FG against Elon. Ensuring that the kicking game is consistent is going to be very important for the Eagles' success this season. Koo finished strong last season and seems to be the answer, but after two years of struggles, the kicking game is something that is going to concern me until I see it be consistently strong all season.

For more on Georgia Southern, see Bill Connelly's in-depth preview for SB Nation.