James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett III ushered in a new era of Dukes football with a win over Charlotte on Saturday. He also went extremely viral on social media with an early contender for flop of the year in college football.
Little did he know, the hilarious moment would also be the topic of discussion during class on Tuesday!
For those who don’t know, the average GPA requirement to get into James Madison is a 3.55— so the athletes actually have to go to class. Barnett can’t just skirt by, he needs to show up and work hard for his degree.
The Dukes returned to the classroom after the Labor Day weekend. Their starting quarterback started his day with a course on public speaking and speech writing. Today’s lesson was about over-dramatization.
In an effort to help the students visualize what they were learning, the professor used a clip from the weekend that racked up more than 15 million views on X and TikTok.
Asked Alonza Barnett about his flop during JMU's presser. Says it got played in class on Monday.
— Jarvis Haren (@jarvisharen) September 3, 2024
"I didn't anticipate it to get that much traction. I was just out there having a little bit of fun." https://t.co/bK7gAUhffk pic.twitter.com/M0PXJxQNpL
Barnett was pushed by a 49ers defensive lineman during the second half of his season-opener. His reaction was pure gold. It was the ultimate flop.
Not only did Barnett throw his hands up in the air while falling back to the ground, he flailed around like a fish out of water on the turf after the flag had already been throw. 6-foot-6 offensive lineman Joseph Simmons ran over to make sure his quarterback was okay and gave him some much needed chest compressions.
Barnett’s flop was so ridiculous that his professor played the video in front of the class as an example of over-dramatization. If that doesn’t get the point across, then nothing will.
Whenever the test rolls around at the end of this particular unit, there is no doubt that Barnett’s class is going to get that question correct!