Green says he will transfer

USC tailback Broderick Green, a redshirt freshman from Arkansas, will no longer practice with the team and will transfer at the end of the fall semester, Coach Pete Carroll confirmed Sunday.

Green did not suit up for the Trojans’ 17-3 victory over California on Saturday night, a win that helped move the Trojans up one spot to No. 6 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

USCfootball.com, a website not affiliated with the university, reported late Saturday night that Green had told coaches he intended to transfer because of family reasons.

“If this is what he wants to do, I’ll try to help him any way that we can,” Carroll said on Sunday.

Carroll acknowledged that playing time also had a role in Green’s request to be released from his scholarship.

“I think the number of guys he’s battling against was a concern,” Carroll said. “Somewhere in there, that was one of his concerns, but he has a lot of things that are weighing on him.”

Green, who has rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns in 32 carries, could not be reached for comment.

But in a statement posted on Carroll’s website, Green cited his grandmother’s health as the reason he will leave USC.

“Because of unforeseen family health issues with my maternal grandmother who raised me and my mother, I have asked the University of Southern California to grant me a scholarship release at the end of the semester,” Green said. “Over the last few weeks, as I have tried to maintain the desire to be a part of the USC football family, a stronger desire to be closer to family in this time of need has emerged.”

The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Green redshirted last season after suffering a foot injury during training camp.

He and fellow redshirt freshman Marc Tyler began this season behind juniors Stafon Johnson and Allen Bradford and sophomores C.J. Gable and Joe McKnight.

Through the first five games, Green played mainly in blowouts. But with McKnight and Bradford nursing injuries, Green got his first significant opportunity against Washington State. He took full advantage, rushing for 121 yards and two touchdowns in a 69-0 victory.

Green, however, did not play the next week against Arizona and had five carries for 23 yards and a touchdown the next week against Washington.

Green is the second tailback in as many seasons to transfer from USC.

Emmanuel Moody, who as a freshman in 2006 played extensively when he wasn’t injured, left during training camp in 2007 and later enrolled at Florida.

Moody has rushed for 192 yards and no touchdowns in 28 carries for the Gators, who are No. 4 in the BCS standings.

Movin’ on up

USC’s rise to No. 6 in the BCS standings did not get much of a rise out of Carroll, whose team had dropped two spots the week before after routing Washington.

Carroll reiterated that the Trojans needed to keep winning, because “you have to position yourself for when other people have their stumbles.”

Questionable catch?

Carroll said he had not seen television replays of Patrick Turner’s 19-yard touchdown catch that gave the Trojans a 10-3 lead against California, but he said he heard from others that there might have been room to dispute it as a completion.

“There’s been a kind of new declaration that the ball can touch the ground [on a reception] as long as you maintain control,” Carroll said.

Cardinal countdown

USC travels this week to Stanford, a team that beat the Trojans, 24-23, at the Coliseum last year in one of the biggest upsets in college football history.

“I’m not sure how to handle that yet [with players] other than talk about the truth and reality,” Carroll said. “The questions and stuff are going to be out there from the media throughout the week to bring us back to that experience. We have to handle it well.”

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gary.klein@latimes.com

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Up next

USC (8-1, 6-1) at Stanford (5-5, 4-3)

Saturday, 4 p.m., Versus