ATHENS — As expected from the outset, Chauncey Rivers will be suspended from the TaxSlayer Bowl.

The freshman defensive end from Stone Mountain was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana last Friday. It was River’s second arrest for marijuana possession this season.

UGA’s student-athlete conduct code calls for a suspension for one-third of the season’s games for a second violation of the school’s marijuana-use policy, or four games in the case of football.

On Friday, interim Georgia head coach Bryan McClendon would confirm only that Rivers will miss the Bulldogs’ Jan. 2 game against Penn State in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

“Chauncey won’t play in the bowl game; he’s going to be suspended for the bowl game,” McClendon said Wednesday. “Right now that’s really the only update I can give you. My focus is on this bowl game. Anything beyond that you’ll have to ask Kirby (Smart).”

Smart, however, will be beholden to the same policies and procedures as his predecessor, Mark Richt. Georgia’s guidelines are department-wide. That means Rivers will also have to sit out the Bulldogs’ first three games of next season. Those are against North Carolina, Nicholls State and Missouri.

Rivers will also be subjected to some community service and some alcohol and drug counseling as a result of a second offense.