Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount, who was suspended for the season after punching a Boise State player in the wake of the season opener, has been allowed to rejoin the Ducks.

The university requested Blount’s reinstatement, which was approved by Pacific-10 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott on Monday.

Blount will be able to play for the No. 14 Ducks on Saturday night when they host Arizona State. He missed eight games.

Blount issued a statement saying he was grateful to Oregon coach Chip Kelly for giving him a second chance.

“Now it is up to me to prove to people that their lasting impressions of me are not what they saw in Boise,” he said.

Blount punched Byron Hout following the nationally televised opener, bringing the Broncos’ defensive end to his knees. The next day he was suspended for the season by Kelly, but he was allowed to keep his scholarship and practice with the team.

Kelly later said that if Blount met certain academic and behavioral conditions, he would be allowed to return. The earliest possible date for his reinstatement was Saturday’s game against Stanford, but the Ducks waited until this week to bring him back.

“We have tremendous respect for Oregon. Those coaches, we know most of those guys very well. And so, whatever they decide we’re 100 percent behind. I think that’s good for all involved if that’s what they chose to do,” Boise State coach Chris Petersen said.

Kelly would not discuss the special requirements for reinstatement, calling it a private issue.

Blount said in his statement released by the university that he would not speak to reporters.

“Until that time, I feel my actions can speak louder than anything I could say. I just want to help my teammates who have been supportive of me,” his statement said.

Blount rushed for 1,002 yards last season. Red-shirt freshman LaMichael James emerged as Oregon’s starter in his absence.

James has run for 1,043 yards so far this season, becoming the first Oregon freshman to go over 1,000 yards rushing. He has rushed for eight touchdowns.

College football

Memphis coach West fired

Memphis, Tenn. — Memphis fired coach Tommy West on Monday, saying the school wants to go in a different direction after the season.

Athletic Director R.C. Johnson said at a news conference that he met with West Monday morning and told the coach of the university’s decision. He also asked West to stay through the end of the season.

When the coach had his turn at the microphone he said the university needs to put more money in the football program or shut it down. West didn’t hesitate to share his feelings about the program’s outdated facilities. He said there was only one answer if fans didn’t demand improvements or for the university to make necessary changes.

“I couldn’t say (this) as a coach, but it’s too painful,” West said. “It’s too painful for coaches, for players, for people, for fans. Put something in it or do away with it, one or the other.”

W. Kentucky cans coach

Bowling Green, Ky. — Western Kentucky has fired head coach David Elson, though he will finish out the remainder of the season.

The Hilltoppers are 0-9 this season and have lost 17 straight games, the longest active losing streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Wisconsin WR suspended

Madison, Wis. — Wisconsin wide receiver Maurice Moore has been indefinitely suspended by coach Bret Bielema following his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving over the weekend. Bielema said Monday that he has not yet talked to the fourth-year junior, who was in an accident early Sunday and taken to a Madison hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

Michigan AD pushy?

Ann Arbor, Mich. — Michigan athletic director Bill Martin pushed a student and grabbed the wind breaker of another student during two football games, according to a department of public safety report.

Michigan student Jackie Turner says she told Martin he needed a pass to enter the regents guest area of the press box Sept. 12 during a game against Notre Dame. She said he pushed her shoulder and walked past her.

“Honey, I am the athletic director,” Turner quoted him as saying.

On Oct. 17, Eastern Michigan student Arif Khan said he told Martin and a female companion they needed passes to enter the area after a game against Delaware State. Khan said Martin grabbed his jacket.

“I am the athletic director, I can go in,” Khan quoted Martin as telling him.

high school football

Emporia freshman on E:60

Charlie Wilks, a freshman football player at Emporia High, self-reports a feature that appears at 6 p.m. today on ESPN’s E:60. Wilks, the grandson of Al Reynolds, who played eight years with the Chiefs and appeared in Super Bowl I, is blind. In the piece, Wilks talks about losing his sight and interviews his mother, grandfather, friends and coaches and meets NFL players and the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell.

Baseball

Police seek kidnappers

Caracas, Venezuela — Assailants who kidnapped the mother of former major league pitcher Victor Zambrano in Venezuela only decided to take her after they found little of value during a burglary, police said Monday.

Rafael Romero, a federal police investigator, said seven armed men burst into the home of Elizabeth Mendez Zambrano at her son’s farm near Maracay on Sunday morning and kidnapped her because they didn’t find large amounts of cash and jewelry as they had expected.

NFL

L.T. arrested after wreck

Miami — Former football star Lawrence Taylor has been released on bond following his arrest in a Miami-area traffic accident.

According to Miami-Dade County jail records, Taylor was charged Sunday with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, a second-degree misdemeanor. He was released on $500 bond later that night. It was not immediately clear if Taylor has an attorney. A Florida Highway Patrol spokesman says Taylor was involved in a hit-and-run crash Sunday in Hialeah. Taylor told investigators he thought he had hit a guard rail. There were no injuries.