HAMMOND, La. –  Southeastern Louisiana senior quarterback Cole Kelley will find out if he will have the ultimate capper to his historic season on Saturday, as the Lion signal caller will participate in the announcement of the Stats Perform FCS Walter Payton Award.
 
Kelley is one of the three top finishers in the voting for the Payton Award, along with Eastern Washington quarterback Eric Barriere and Sacred Heart running back Julius Chestnut. The winner of the honor, bestowed upon the top offensive player in FCS, will be announced on a nationally-televised FCS Awards Show. Locally, it will be shown on Bally Sports (Formerly Fox Sports) New Orleans at 9:30 p.m.
 
Kelley in is his second season with the Lions after transferring from Arkansas. The Lafayette, Louisiana native is the third SLU quarterback to be a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and will be the top finisher. Former Southeastern standouts Martin Hankins (2004 – 7^th) and Bryan Bennett (2013 – 8^th and 2014 – 21^st) were also candidates for the prestigious honor.
 
Postseason honors have come aplenty for the Teurlings Catholic High School product following the end of a prolific campaign. Last month, Kelley was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year and earned second team All-Southland Conference accolades.
 
Earlier this week, Kelley earned All-America honors both from Stats Perform (first team) and the Associated Press (second team). Kelley is the first SLU quarterback to earn All-America honors since Bennett in 2013.
 
Kelley leads the Southland Conference with 2,662 yards passing and 27 touchdowns responsible for (18 passing, seven rushing and two receiving).
 
Kelley also ranks among the NCAA leaders in passing efficiency (6^th), passing touchdowns (4^th), passing yards per game (2^nd), rushing touchdowns (11^th), total offense (3^rd), total touchdowns scored (6^th) and yards per pass attempt (6^th). He passed for 300 yards or more in all seven games and topped 400 yards on three different occasions.

Kelley is vying to become the third Southland Conference quarterback to claim the prestigious honor, joining Stephen F. Austin's Jeremy Moses (2010) and Sam Houston's Jeremiah Briscoe (2016, 2017).
 
Kelley's invitation to the FCS Awards show is the latest in a steady rise to national prominence for the Lions under head coach Frank Scelfo, who just finished his third year at the helm of the Southeastern program.
 
Kelley and Ferlando Jordan were both named All-America with Jordan earning his second straight nod. After making the NCAA FCS playoffs in 2019, SLU was one of the first four out of the 16-team playoff field this spring.
 
All three of Southeastern's losses came on the road versus ranked opponents, including a 43-38 loss at Sam Houston, one of the participants in Sunday's national championship game. SLU will likely finished ranked in the national FCS polls for the second straight season for the first time since the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
 
FCS National Awards - Initial Air Dates (local air times listed)
Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Bally Sports Detroit (BSDET): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Bally Sports Florida (BSFL): Sunday, May 16 (5 p.m.)
Bally Sports Midwest (BSMW): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m., CENTSOIL/CENTIN/FW/SWIN/STL/ILTH-EVANS); Sunday, May 16 (9 p.m., all)
Bally Sports North (BSN): Saturday, May 15 (10 p.m.)
Bally Sports Ohio (BSOH): Saturday, May 15 (11:30 p.m.)
Bally Sports SoCal (BSSC): Thursday, May 20 (1 p.m.)
Bally Sports South (BSSO): Sunday, May 16 (10 p.m., AL-Hunt/GA/KY/NC/SC/TN); Tuesday, May 18 (11 a.m., all)
Bally Sports Southeast (BSSE): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m., AL/GA/MS/NC/SC/TN-Chat,Knox,Tri); Friday, May 21 (3 a.m., all)
Bally Sports Southwest (BSSW): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m.)
Bally Sports Sun (BSSUN): Saturday, May 15 (11:30 p.m., Heat); Sunday, May 16 (5 a.m., all)
Bally Sports West (BSW): Saturday, May 15 (11 p.m.)
Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI): Saturday, May 15 (9:30 p.m.)
AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (ATTPT): Thursday, May 20 (5 p.m.)
AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (ATTRM): Monday, May 17 (4:30 p.m. Las Vegas; 5:30 p.m., all)
MSG Network Plus (MSGP): Sunday, May 16 (9 p.m.)
Mid-Atlantic Sports Network 2 (MASN 2): Saturday, May 15 (9 p.m.)
Root Sports Northwest (RSNW): Monday, May 17 (12:30 a.m.)
Note: Most networks will have multiple airings. Please consult local listings.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.