Amid the hullabaloo of college football’s grand return over the weekend, most fans probably didn’t tune in to watch the James Madison University Dukes face the University of North Carolina Charlotte (not to be confused with athletic powerhouse UNC Chapel Hill) 49ers on Saturday evening.
JMU won easily on the road, thrashing the 49ers to the tune of 30-7.
Given that lopsided final score, most would probably assume that the fourth quarter of the game was a drama-less affair, with the Dukes largely playing keep-away with that sizable lead.
One would assume incorrectly, because that fourth quarter featured, as ESPN put it on social media platform X, a bona fide early contender for “flop of the season.”
To wit, JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III finished the game with a pretty respectable statline.
The sophomore athlete racked up 219 passing yards, 89 rushing yards, two passing touchdowns and an interception. He led his team in all of those categories.
But Barnett also led his team in “egregious flops,” as Sports Illustrated puts it.
You can watch the viral incident below:
JMU QB Alonza Barnett III with the early flop of the season 😅 pic.twitter.com/SoRTkCBWHH
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) September 1, 2024
Do you watch college football outside of your favorite team/alma mater?
A longer clip also began to circulate, this time with commentary from announcer Charles Arbuckle, who graciously described the stunt as “a little acting.”
Charles Arbuckle accused JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III of doing “A little acting.”
He might have been onto something. pic.twitter.com/xABRKqbVIW
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 1, 2024
The incident, which happened in the fourth quarter (and JMU holding a comfortable 23-7 lead), occurred when senior Charlotte defensive lineman Dre Butler got into a verbal altercation with Barnett.
The brief scuffle ultimately led to Butler shoving Barnett with two hands.
That shove, as it should have, was always going to draw a penalty from the referees — but then the flop happened.
The sophomore quarterback, as one saw in the above videos, dramatically went flying backwards, arms flailing and all, including a dramatized secondary and tertiary roll.
(There is a non-zero chance that Butler is simply the strongest human being in the world, but Occam’s razor would suggest otherwise.)
Eventually a teammate came over to jokingly administer CPR to the grievously-faux-wounded Barnett.
It’s at this point that fans actually learned that Barnett — just like Butler — was assessed an ultimately offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, seemingly negating the rage that the quarterback had successfully baited.
It is not clear if Barnett was always going to get that penalty (for being part of the original instigating incident) or if the penalty was for the extracurricular acting.
Barnett and his fellow Dukes will soon be able to demonstrate any further acting on friendlier soil, as the team’s next game is slated for home on Saturday, when they host the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs. The 49ers, meanwhile, will try to get on a winning track Saturday when they travel in-state to face those aforementioned UNC Chapel Hill Tar Heels.
