Posts on a phony Twitter account unleashed the inner Jim Mora on Tuesday.
The UCLA coach was angry about a person portraying themself as freshman safety Randall Goforth. There were several posts made directed at USC receiver Robert Woods, which brought replies from Woods and others.
The Twitter account has been suspended, but Mora felt the damage was done.
“I think it’s a joke that someone would do that,” Mora said. “I think they are the lowest form of life. If you portray yourself as 18-year-old young man ... trying to stir it up by attributing comments to him that are not his, I think you ought to go to jail.”
Or ...
“Bring his ... out here,” Mora said. “He won’t make it very far with this team. He’s a coward. That’s what a coward does. I challenge that guy to come out here, whoever he is. He won’t. The guy’s a coward. Or girl, whoever it is.”
Goforth, who doesn't have a Twitter account, was a little more subdued.
“It was shocking,” Goforth said. “My teammates got my back. Older guys came and talked to me. They let me know what is going on. They told me to brush it off and focus on this weekend’s game and my school work.”
Goforth said he has never met Woods.
“I’m just a freshman, I have no reason to be talking,” Goforth said. “I have tremendous respect for all those guys at USC. I’m trying to stay in my place and do my job.”
Mora contacted USC coach Lane Kiffin on Monday night.
“Lane and I go way back,” Mora said. “There is no animosity between us. I felt like it was important to let him know this wasn’t coming from our guy. If he felt like it, I wanted him to let his guys know that they were fighting with a guy that’s innocent.”
As for the “guy,” Mora said, “I think he is a scumbag.”
-Chris Foster
