Boston College Back to Miss Miami Game

Boston College running back William Green, the nation’s leading rusher, was suspended Tuesday for one game for breaking an unidentified team rule.

Green will sit out Saturday’s game against top-ranked Miami.

Neither Coach Tom O’Brien nor school spokesman Mike Enright would comment on why the action was taken.

Green will resume normal team activities at practice Sunday, but his absence from the Miami game deals a serious blow to Boston College’s chances. The Eagles (6-2) hoped to use a balanced attack against the Hurricanes (7-0).

He probably will be replaced in the starting lineup by Derrick Knight, a sophomore who has carried 32 times for 194 yards and no touchdowns.

Green leads the nation with 145.5 yards rushing per game and has 14 touchdowns, including two scoring receptions. His 1,164 yards rushing equal his total for last season, when he scored 15 touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards a carry.

In his last game, a 21-17 win over Notre Dame, Green rushed for 195 yards in 28 carries and scored on a 71-yard run and a 70-yard pass play.

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Stanford safety Simba Hodari has been released from a Seattle hospital, but running back Kerry Carter and defensive lineman Austin Lee will sit out No. 16 Stanford’s next three games because of injuries.

New injuries to two key starters are the latest obstacles for a team already struggling with injuries to quarterback Randy Fasani and Hodari, who returned to Stanford on Monday night after sustaining a serious head injury last Saturday in a frightening collision.

Coach Tyrone Willingham on Tuesday refused to discuss his feelings about the play on which Hodari was injured. Hodari was taken from the field on a stretcher after colliding with Washington receiver Charles Frederick in the third quarter.

“I don’t think the player from Washington tried to hit Simba in a cheap fashion,” Stanford linebacker Anthony Gabriel said. “A lot of people on the field were really distraught to see him go down. It wasn’t a good situation.”

Hodari got a concussion on the play, but he was healthy enough to return home ahead of the schedule originally expected by Stanford’s doctors.

Willingham said Hodari wouldn’t play Saturday against Arizona, but might not be out for the year.