BLOOMINGTON – IU football coach Tom Allen expressed confidence in department policies and university procedures, and said he followed both explicitly, following the suspension of sophomore running back Morgan Ellison over allegations of sexual misconduct.

IndyStar reported last week that Ellison has been suspended from Indiana University through March 27, 2021, after a panel determined he sexually assaulted another student in August.

Ellison has been suspended from competition since Aug. 24. His suspension initially covered both games and practices, but Ellison returned to practice Sept. 13.

Allen said Saturday that Ellison again stopped practicing Oct. 3, the day the University’s decision was handed down.

“We followed all the applicable University rules and policies that our department has, that the University has, followed them all, everything I was told do,” Allen said, confirming both start and end dates for Ellison’s participation in practice post-suspension.

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IU did not explain last week when asked why Ellison was initially suspended from practice, and then restored to practice, in the midst of his disciplinary process. The University’s policy for suspension in these cases is generally only meant to cover competition. It’s not clear why Ellison’s suspension initially covered practice as well, but later did not.

It’s also not clear why Ellison then left practice Oct. 3, on the day the panel’s decision was rendered. Ellison has appealed the panel’s decision.

The panel ruled on Oct. 3 that Ellison sexually assaulted a fellow IU student while she slept and then used force to continue the assault when she woke up. In its findings, the University’s sexual misconduct hearing panel concluded that "the aggravating factor of (Ellison) engaging in sexual activity while Complainant was asleep, and (Ellison)’s use of force during the incident" led to the determination that Ellison should be suspended from Indiana University for 2 1/2 years, according to records obtained by IndyStar.

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Should the panel’s decision be upheld on appeal, Ellison would no longer be eligible to play varsity sports at Indiana, as he would be suspended academically. He would also be precluded from ever returning to IU, due to a department policy adopted in 2017 that bars IU’s programs from accepting incoming athletes with a history of sexual or domestic violence.

Allen would not comment Saturday, beyond laying out a timeline related to Ellison’s practice status.

“It's an ongoing situation that still has not been resolved, so I can't comment about that, but I feel very confident that we did, and I followed, the things exactly what I was told to do,” Allen said. “I believe in the system we have in place, the policy we have at our University for this type of situation, and have confidence in what they're doing, and therefore I just tell the truth and do what I'm told.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.