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NFL • Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice has received a two-game suspension from the NFL following his offseason arrest for domestic violence.
Rice will miss the season opener against AFC North champion Cincinnati on Sept. 7 and the Sept. 11 game on Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Rice was arrested following a Feb. 15 altercation in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in which he allegedly struck then-fiancee Janay Palmer. The 27-year-old Rice has been accepted into a diversion program, which upon completion could lead to the charges being expunged.
Rice has played six years for the Ravens. He is the team's career leader in total scrimmage yards and ranks behind only Jamal Lewis in total yards rushing.
Bernard Pierce is expected to start for Rice in Baltimore's first two games.
• Suspended Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Justin Blackmon has been arrested in Oklahoma on a complaint of marijuana possession.
Blackmon, a former standout at Oklahoma State, was arrested Wednesday evening in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond. Police say they noticed his sedan go around stopped traffic in an attempt to get into a turn lane.
Police spokeswoman Jenny Monroe says an officer detected a "heavy smell of marijuana" coming from the car, and that Blackmon admitted he had smoked "a blunt" while driving and had another in his vehicle.
Blackmon was arrested and booked into the Edmond jail, where he posted $657 bond.
2 Longhorns charged with sexual assault
College football • Two University of Texas football players were arrested and charged Thursday with felony sexual assault after a female student said she was raped in a campus dorm room last month.
Wide receivers Kendall Sanders and Montrel Meander arrested and later released on personal recognizance bonds. According to an arrest affidavit, Sanders and Meander texted each other during earlier interviews with police to "get their story straight" and Sanders also faces a charge of improper photography tied to the alleged assault on June 21.
From wire reports