COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE NATION : Indiana’s Mallory Suspended for Game

Indiana Coach Bill Mallory has been suspended for one game because he criticized game officials and conference personnel, the Big Ten Conference announced.

Mallory said he will skip Saturday’s game at Wisconsin rather than pay a $10,000 fine that would have come out of the school’s television revenue.

Mallory was publicly reprimanded and censured for his criticism of officiating during the Hoosiers’ 24-16 loss at Michigan last Saturday.

“There were crucial calls that certainly had a bearing on the outcome of the game,” Mallory said during his weekly news conference Monday. “To me, that should not be tolerated. To just sit back and accept it--I just can’t.

“I’m not going to,” he added. “Usually I don’t pop off about officiating, but . . . this thing . . . enough’s enough.”

Mallory is apparently the first coach to be disciplined under a Big Ten rule governing unsportsmanlike conduct.

“The media and public can be our critics if necessary, but we need to stop being our own worst critics,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement.

The new rule, adopted this year by a committee of the schools’ faculty and athletic administrators, gives Delany the power to suspend a coach or levy a $10,000 fine. A second offense could result in an automatic suspension and a $20,000 fine.

“Naturally, I’m disappointed in the ruling, but I’ll deal with it and get on with the task ahead,” Mallory said in a statement.

Offensive coordinator George Belu and defensive coordinator Joe Novak will serve as co-head coaches Saturday.

Indiana Athletic Director Clarence Donniger said: “Coach Mallory’s conduct in the past has been exemplary.”