CFB AM: Cincinnati professor says Ohio State fans will fail his class

Published Sep. 24, 2014 9:00 a.m. ET

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Teddy Mitrosilis

Cincinnati and Ohio State are separated by less than 110 miles, and those miles become a feeder system of smack talk when it’s game week between the Bearcats and Buckeyes.

If you haven’t heard, it’s indeed game week.

The 2-0 Bearcats will travel to 2-1 Ohio State this week and try to knock off their in-state rival.

Cincinnati will need all the support it can get, and one professor is trying to do his part.

Earlier this week, Steve Fuller tweeted, “If you wear Ohio State gear in my classroom this week, you will fail my course.” The original tweet seems to have been deleted but is captured by a fan here:

Professor Fuller is kidding, of course. No sane faculty member would ever do such a thing.

He even raised the stakes by making himself part of the joke:

Well, Professor, I hope you have a nice Buckeyes shirt picked out. The Bearcats are 0-9 all-time in Columbus.

(h/t Bleacher Report)

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. Florida State took a significant hit on Tuesday when it learned starting nose tackle Nile Lawrence-Stample is out for the rest of the season with a torn pectoral muscle. Lawrence-Stample tried to play through it against Clemson but will now undergo surgery. FSU has too much talent on defense to be sunk by any one injury, but this stings, as Lawrence-Stample took over for second-round pick Timmy Jernigan and was counted on to fill the role of massive clog in the middle of the line for the Noles. Now junior Derrick Mitchell Jr. will step in and FSU’s depth will be one man weaker.

2. With the hot seat talk ramping up around Michigan coach Brady Hoke, receiver Dennis Norfleet came to his defense on Tuesday.  "I took it to heart this morning, they were really talking down on coach Hoke, saying his time is coming," Norfleet told mlive.com. "Coach Hoke does a lot. For me and the team. There have been times when I needed to see my family at a critical time, or I needed to see my daughter and he was there by my side throughout the way. It's more than (just) football. In life, he's a good coach. And right now, the way people are talking about him I don't feel -- and the team doesn't feel -- that it's right.

It’s commendable for Norfleet to stick up for his coach like that, and he’s right that a coach’s impact is felt far beyond football. But unfortunately it’s the football upon which a coach is judged, and not every person connected to the program shares Norfleet’s feelings. Former Wolverines quarterback Michael Taylor ripped the program on the radio.

“Michigan football is not going in the right direction,” Taylor said. “The leadership is bad, there are many more issues on and off the field than I care to talk about. It’s just sad … We didn’t get the coach who should have been our coach here (San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh) because we insulted him in the first place. So then look who we get. It’s nothing personal; Brady’s a nice guy, I’m sure all you guys agree. I’ll agree to that. Really nice guy, very personable guy. However, his pedigree did not deserve to be a $4-million coach here at Michigan.”

3. Mississippi State center Dillon Day has been suspended by the SEC for stomping on two LSU players in last week’s game. Day will miss one game – MSU is off this week, so he’ll miss the Texas A&M game on Oct. 4 – for what the league called “multiple and unsportsmanlike acts.” Day was also suspended for half a game last year after a similar incident against Auburn. Here’s video of his two LSU stomps:

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

1. Alabama coach Nick Saban spoke to the media on Tuesday and was very candid when asked about his offense and what offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin brings to the staff. Saban said FSU coach Jimbo Fisher was the best OC he’s ever had and the one who opened up the offense more than any other. Now Kiffin is doing the same. Here’s Saban:

"Lane does a really good job of taking advantage of what players can do. And I think that has benefitted us so far this season.

"My philosophy hasn't changed at all. I've always asked for this. Why don't we throw the ball on this look instead of running this play where we can't block everybody? Which is what we do now. It's a pro philosophy and Lane's got experience as a pro coach [parts of two seasons with Oakland]. That's his background, that's what he does, and he does a really good job. ... It's worked out well, and hopefully we'll continue to improve."

Saban was also asked about his relationship with Kiffin, which he doesn’t understand why anyone would assume it’s anything other than perfectly professional and respectful:

"It's never been bad. Who ever said it was bad? So, why does it need to get better? I thought something had to be bad before you need it to get better. So why do you ask me, 'Has it gotten better?' That assumes that it was bad, it was worse at one time. So now we're in love, we fell out of love, and now we're back in love. I don't get it.

"We communicate well together, he's very respectful in terms of presenting the information that I need, and when I make suggestions, he always respects them. ... It's always been good is the way I would put it.

"I mean, if I did what you all thought when I hired the guy, he wouldn't even be here. So maybe that was the assumption because nobody thought it was a good hire that all a sudden something bad, I don't know. But I thought it was a good hire, nobody else did. I got beat up like a drum over doing it and now all of a sudden it's great."

Here’s video of Saban’s press conference in which he hits more topics than just Kiffin.

2. The five Notre Dame players currently suspended while an academic misconduct investigation continues are expected to have their hearings by the end of next week. Those hearings will determine whether they’re allowed to continue to be students and football players at Notre Dame in the immediate future.

3. A new edition of The Audible is out, as Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel discuss the Jameis Winston/Jimbo Fisher dynamic, the situations at Michigan and Florida, Alabama’s offense and more. Give it a listen if you have a few minutes.

THREE THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO KNOW

1. Forgive me, as it’s shameless and slightly embarrassing to plug anything of my own any higher than the “Lastly” section of this column, but here’s my Tuesday radio hit from this week on the Eric Hasseltine Show in Memphis. We discussed Winston, and I wanted to share this point here as well, because the topic fascinates me:

In this digital and social media generation, almost all college-aged people have an innate feel for and understanding of social platforms and what resonates on them. They’re constantly on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, among other services, partaking in funny jokes, posting their own content and watching things go viral. They know the power of social media, because they actively use it to benefit themselves, making their own friends laugh while connecting with a larger audience that may not know them personally.

Winston is on Twitter and Instagram and has successfully used both to make personal connections with people by sharing things that others want to pass along. To put it clearly: He’s well aware of how Twitter works. So he had to know that when he stood on top of a table in front of a large audience in a public place, what he said or did would make it on social media. And he had to know that when the words he said were published on Twitter – without any chance for people to understand his tone or the manner in which he said them (not that it matters) or the setting or the audience’s reaction or anything that might add context – that it would read grotesquely and not go well.

Yet, he still delivered the joke. I guess this is what perplexes me the most about Winston and other young people getting in trouble that’s initiated by social media reaction: There are many examples of them using social media brilliantly in a positive way, yet there’s this disconnect in regards to how social media could be used negatively against them. But they spend more time than anyone with these tools and see both sides at work in their social circles every day. That’s kind of odd, right? If nothing else, it’s a nuanced conversation worth having.

OK, thanks for allowing the plug and a thought. Moving on.

2. Well done, ECU Pirates. As a Tar Heel, I’m pissed, but well done.

2. SB Nation’s Bill Connelly chimes in on Alabama’s offense under the direction of OC Lane Kiffin, Oregon’s defense, Florida State’s run game and more.

3. You heard about the Texas A&M Cadet saving Reveille, the Aggies dog mascot, from getting run over by an SMU player, yes? Rodger Sherman goes all out and breaks the “play” down with some serious analysis. Pretty funny.

LASTLY

* The Spurrier-Sumlin verbal jostling is so much fun. I hope this never ends.

* Devon Allen is emerging as one of Oregon’s top targets, writes Steve Mims. He and Baylor’s KD Cannon have been the two most impressive freshman receivers in the country so far this season, in my opinion.

* It took four games for the “Can Lane Kiffin succeed Nick Saban at Alabama?” talk to start.

* This is cool: The Arkansas band honored the military with a halftime show.

Have a great Wednesday, all.

Teddy Mitrosilis is an editor and writer for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TMitrosilis and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.

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