COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri tailback and team captain Derrick Washington was suspended indefinitely Thursday for an unspecified disciplinary reason.
“As I tell my players, when something happens like this I won’t comment on it,” coach Gary Pinkel said.
Washington, a senior, has led the Tigers in rushing each of the last two seasons. Last year he gained 865 yards on a career-high 190 carries and scored 10 touchdowns despite having lingering knee problems.
Sophomore Kendial Lawrence is expected to be in line to start when Missouri opens against Illinois on Sept. 4. Lawrence played in 11 games as a freshman. He ran for 219 yards.
North Carolina extends probe
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The investigation of North Carolina’s football program has expanded into possible academic misconduct involving players and a woman who also has worked as a tutor for coach Butch Davis’ son.
Athletic director Dick Baddour declined to identify the players or say how many might be involved. He said there is no timetable for resolution, but “it is likely that the review would extend beyond the start of the season.”
If that happens, he said the school will decide if those players will play. North Carolina opens Sept. 4 against LSU in Atlanta.
Baddour declined to specify what the possible violations were, only that they involved “a student tutor and student-athletes on the football team.”
“We are looking into improprieties that existed outside the classroom,” Baddour said. “That’s about as close to that as I can get.”
USC trophy case loses one
LOS ANGELES — Southern California has been stripped of the 2004 Grantland Rice Trophy, which is awarded by the Football Writers Association of America to the nation’s top college football team.
The organization said a committee of current and former officers voted to revoke the honor after USC was penalized for NCAA violations. It did not award the trophy to another school.
• Southern California and Texas have agreed to meet in 2017 and 2018. The Longhorns will travel to Los Angeles in 2017, with the Trojans going to Austin in 2018.
Footnotes.
Linebacker Anthony McDonald (knee) has been upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Notre Dame’s Sept. 4 opener against Purdue.
• Texas senior right guard Tray Allen has not recovered from a left foot injury and will miss the Sept. 4 opener against Rice.
• Illinois junior safety Supo Sanni is out for the season after tearing his right Achilles tendon.
• Florida will be without starting left tackle Xavier Nixon and backup Matt Patchan for its Sept. 4 opener against Miami (Ohio).
The Associated Press
