Favian Upshaw, Georgia Southern Eagles go to work in spring practice

STATESBORO -- The last time Favian Upshaw was on the field, he led the Georgia Southern football team to a 58-27 thrashing of Bowling Green in December's Go Daddy Bowl.

It was the Eagles' first-ever bowl game, and they were impressive, especially Upshaw.

The Georgia Southern quarterback gained 199 yards rushing and scored four touchdowns on only 11 carries and he also completed a pass for 17 yards in earning game MVP honors.

The Eagles opened spring football practice Thursday under new head coach Tyson Summers, who takes over for Willie Fritz after Fritz left for Tulane following a 34-7 home loss to Georgia State to end the regular season. The bowl win was a great tonic for the Eagles, Upshaw said, after what might be the most humiliating loss ever for a Georgia Southern team at Paulson Stadium.

"That was definitely a boost, to go out there and win our first bowl game ever," Upshaw said. "But we let a lot of games go last year that we're going to try and get back this year. Winning the bowl game was most definitely a positive, and that was a big thing for us. We're using that as fuel, but we don't want to stay where we are. We have big expectations for this season.

"I saw a lot of guys out there (Thursday) who were happy to be back on the field. Coach had the music going, and there was a lot of energy."

Georgia Southern, which won the 2014 Sun Belt Conference championship in its first season on the FBS level, lost to West Virginia, Appalachian State, Georgia and the Panthers in 2015 to go 9-4.

Summers arrived in Statesboro from Colorado State, where he spent one year as the defensive coordinator on Mike Bobo's staff. Prior to joining the Rams, the Tifton native spent three years at Central Florida coaching linebackers. He was also the Golden Knights' defensive coordinator in 2014.

Summers played at Presbyterian and began his college coaching career at Georgia Southern in 1986, coaching safeties under Brian VanGorder, who resigned after one season.

"I think it was good," Summers said of his first ever practice as a head coach. "It was good for us, our staff, to get out there with the kids. Early on there was a lot of anxiety with them. There were first-day jitters, trying to do everything right, to be perfect.

"I told them to just, 'Go as hard as fast as you can, and you'll be all right. There'll be mistakes, but we'll coach you up. Believe in the process, and we'll wind up getting where we need to be.' Obviously, we're a long way from there right now."

The Eagles will have holes to plug on defense, especially in the secondary and at linebacker, but Summers inherited an offensive unit that returns nearly intact. Last year, Georgia Southern led the nation with 363 rushing yards oer game and added 63 yards per game passing. Players who accounted for nearly 98 percent of that offense return.

Leading the way is running back Matt Brieda, who ran for 1,608 yards, along with L.A. Ramsby, who had 816, and true freshman running back Wesley Fields, who added 682. Upshaw ran for 583 yards as a backup to starting quarterback Kevin Ellison, who had 712 yards rushing.

One of Summers' goals this spring is upgrading the passing attack to give the offense more balance.

"We're still going to run the triple-option because that's what we do," Upshaw said. "The triple-option is our bread and butter, but we're going to be making more of the easy throws, hitches and winning the one-on-one battles on the outside.

"We're going to try and make sure we're not running the football against those nine-man boxes. We'll try to get some space out there and get people out of the box."

Summers also introduced loud music to practice, and he said there was a purpose behind it.

"I like the music because it makes everyone communicate," Summers said. "The big thing is when it is loud, it creates chaos. It makes coaches have to be very deliberate in what they're saying. It makes players, particularly in a no-huddle offense, have to be very deliberate in how they communicate, and it makes a defense going against a fast-paced offensive deliberate in how it communicates."

The Eagles will play their spring game at noon on April 16 at Statesboro High School. Paulson Stadium will not be available because its grass playing surface is being replaced with artificial turf.

This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Favian Upshaw, Georgia Southern Eagles go to work in spring practice ."