Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield said Monday that running back Mario Anderson, who was ejected from Saturday's win over South Florida after he spit on Bulls defensive tackle Doug Blue-Eli, would be available this week against North Texas.

"First and foremost, his actions are completely despicable," Silverfield said at his Monday news conference. "That's not what we do in our program, and so I apologize on behalf of our program, the way we represented ourselves and our culture. We played a team that was one of the most penalized teams in all of college football. We fell down to that level, and shame on us. But we'll learn from those mistakes."

Anderson was slow to get up after a carry in the second quarter of Saturday's game. After the play, Blue-Eli walked by Anderson and the ESPN broadcast showed Anderson spitting at Blue-Eli after a confrontation. Both players were assessed unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, but only Anderson was ejected.

Silverfield said he talked to Anderson at halftime.

"There comes a time where you raise your voice and you jump down people's throats," he said. "At that point, it probably wasn't the best time to do it. I think he understood his actions. And then with all the stupid, let's call it what it is, foolish penalties we had in the game, I was pretty hard on our team yesterday."

Silverfield said Anderson will be available for the Tigers' next game (6:30 p.m. CT Saturday, ESPNU) at home against North Texas. Silverfield said he showed his team clips of that penalty and others from the game against South Florida, saying it was uncharacteristic for the Tigers to be assessed so many penalties.

Memphis, averaging 44 penalty yards a game, had been one of the least penalized teams in the country, but had seven penalties for 75 yards against South Florida.

While Silverfield said Anderson's action was an "egregious penalty," he said he was encouraged by Anderson's response.

"His response was the right one," Silverfield said. "He understood it was a terrible mistake. He's a smart young man. That was uncharacteristic of him and within our program. And so the fact that he responded in the appropriate manner tells me everything."

Anderson had rushed for 18 yards and had a touchdown catch before the ejection. He has rushed for 456 yards and eight touchdowns this season.

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What Memphis' Ryan Silverfield said of Mario Anderson's spitting