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LOS ANGELES -- UCLA coach Jim Mora said Tuesday the person responsible for a fake Randall Goforth Twitter account should go to jail after the account was used to talk trash to USC wide receiver Robert Woods.
The phony Twitter account bearing the name of Goforth, a freshman UCLA defensive back, has been shut down, but not before causing a bit of a social network uproar Monday night between fans of both schools. On Tuesday, Mora nearly had a meltdown over it after practice.
Saying that it was "absolutely 100 percent not Randall" and that it was "some knucklehead out there trying to stir it up," Mora had some choice words for the impostor.
"I think it's a frickin' joke that somebody would do that," Mora said. "I think you're the lowest form of life-form if you were to portray yourself as an 18-year-old young man who is out here trying to do his best. Trying to stir it up, attributing comments to him that aren't his, I think he ought to go to jail. That's how I feel. I think you're a scumbag."
On Monday night, a tweet from the impersonator account to Woods about the upcoming USC-UCLA rivalry game started it all. It said, "We will beat you guys on Nov. 17th. Believe the hype."
That tweet created a stir, with fans of both teams engaging in trash talking. Mora said Goforth was in a tutoring session at the time of the tweets. Goforth said he doesn't even have a Twitter account.
"I was never into all that Internet stuff because my parents said never believe what you hear on the Internet because most of the time it's not true," Goforth said. "So I just live by that and I don't get caught up in all that Internet talk and all that. I just do me."
USC wide receiver Marqise Lee said he took part in the banter with the tweeter.
"I know the guy. He's a friend of mine," Lee said of Goforth. "So I'm thinking that it's Randall, so then we're talking, going back-and-forth, playing around, not knowing that it wasn't him. Then later he texts me: 'Qise, that's not me.' And I was like, 'Oh, snap!' And that's when it stopped. I didn't know it was fake until people told me."
Goforth said he was surprised the impostor picked him to impersonate.
"It was shocking because I'm just a freshman," Goforth said. "I have no right to be talking or anything. I have tremendous respect for all those guys at USC and I'm just trying to stay in my place and do my job, and that's getting ready for Washington State."
Goforth said he doesn't know Woods, but that he used to watch him in high school "and looked up to him." Goforth went to Long Beach Poly and Woods went to Serra High in Gardena.
"He's a great player," Goforth said.
Mora said he called USC coach Lane Kiffin to explain the situation. He said Kiffin has talked to the Trojans team and Mora talked to his team and "it's a non-issue."
"I didn't see the exact responses. I give Jim Mora credit -- he called me to make sure I knew that it was not one of their players," Kiffin said. "The player had someone come into their account and pose as them. So I immediately called Marqise and Robert to make sure they knew what was going on. But I didn't know what was said."
Now, Mora said, he'd like to talk to the person responsible for the fake account.
"I challenge that guy to come out here," Mora said. "He won't, though; he's a coward. Or girl, whoever it is."
The phony Twitter account bearing the name of Goforth, a freshman UCLA defensive back, has been shut down, but not before causing a bit of a social network uproar Monday night between fans of both schools. On Tuesday, Mora nearly had a meltdown over it after practice.
Saying that it was "absolutely 100 percent not Randall" and that it was "some knucklehead out there trying to stir it up," Mora had some choice words for the impostor.
"I think it's a frickin' joke that somebody would do that," Mora said. "I think you're the lowest form of life-form if you were to portray yourself as an 18-year-old young man who is out here trying to do his best. Trying to stir it up, attributing comments to him that aren't his, I think he ought to go to jail. That's how I feel. I think you're a scumbag."
On Monday night, a tweet from the impersonator account to Woods about the upcoming USC-UCLA rivalry game started it all. It said, "We will beat you guys on Nov. 17th. Believe the hype."
That tweet created a stir, with fans of both teams engaging in trash talking. Mora said Goforth was in a tutoring session at the time of the tweets. Goforth said he doesn't even have a Twitter account.
"I was never into all that Internet stuff because my parents said never believe what you hear on the Internet because most of the time it's not true," Goforth said. "So I just live by that and I don't get caught up in all that Internet talk and all that. I just do me."
USC wide receiver Marqise Lee said he took part in the banter with the tweeter.
"I know the guy. He's a friend of mine," Lee said of Goforth. "So I'm thinking that it's Randall, so then we're talking, going back-and-forth, playing around, not knowing that it wasn't him. Then later he texts me: 'Qise, that's not me.' And I was like, 'Oh, snap!' And that's when it stopped. I didn't know it was fake until people told me."
Goforth said he was surprised the impostor picked him to impersonate.
"It was shocking because I'm just a freshman," Goforth said. "I have no right to be talking or anything. I have tremendous respect for all those guys at USC and I'm just trying to stay in my place and do my job, and that's getting ready for Washington State."
Goforth said he doesn't know Woods, but that he used to watch him in high school "and looked up to him." Goforth went to Long Beach Poly and Woods went to Serra High in Gardena.
"He's a great player," Goforth said.
Mora said he called USC coach Lane Kiffin to explain the situation. He said Kiffin has talked to the Trojans team and Mora talked to his team and "it's a non-issue."
"I didn't see the exact responses. I give Jim Mora credit -- he called me to make sure I knew that it was not one of their players," Kiffin said. "The player had someone come into their account and pose as them. So I immediately called Marqise and Robert to make sure they knew what was going on. But I didn't know what was said."
Now, Mora said, he'd like to talk to the person responsible for the fake account.
"I challenge that guy to come out here," Mora said. "He won't, though; he's a coward. Or girl, whoever it is."
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