College football fans are starving these days for story lines, information and bulletin board material.

The season, as you know, is still weeks away.

So, when a quote from Oregon coach Mario Cristobal about the Ducks’ season-opening opponent, Auburn, started circulating on social media, fans were ready to pounce.

It’s everything a college football fan wants in the middle of the summer.

One small issue: The quote isn’t real.

That’s according to a writer who’s name was thrown in the credit line by the Twitter handle @cfbquotes.

Per the tweet:

“Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal was asked about the opener vs Auburn, & said that Auburn would be just another team in the Pac-12 and that they weren’t worried about the matchup. He also talked up his squad and claimed that his team was the fastest & strongest in the nation.”

Included in the tweet was the quote: “We play in the Pac-12, so we play teams around Auburn’s level week in and week out ... we believe we are stronger and faster than any other team in America.”

Oregon Head Coach Mario Cristobal was asked about the opener vs Auburn, & said that Auburn would be just another team in the PAC-12 and that they weren't worried about the matchup.



He also talked up his squad and claimed that his team was the fastest & strongest in the nation. pic.twitter.com/ZtgNAjDSY2 — College Football Quotes (@cfbquotes) June 30, 2019

Late Monday night, a tweet from @cfbquotes admitted the quote was a joke and so was attributing it to an Oregon writer.

Things I learned today: Oregon fans cannot take a joke — College Football Quotes (@cfbquotes) July 2, 2019

Yes.... I acted like an idiot and when he finally figured out what was going on, I threw out some juvenile insults for fun. What’s funny is I’ve been laughing this whole time while the majority of Oregon fans responding are clearly very angry and upset — College Football Quotes (@cfbquotes) July 2, 2019

The quote was attributed to Rob Moseley of GoDucks.com.

A search of GoDucks.com, as well as a Google search, for the quote came up empty.

AL.com reached out Monday to Moseley, who confirmed he never heard Cristobal make the comment, nor did he report on any such comments.

In fact, Moseley spent time on Twitter trying to clarify the quote is pure fiction.

AL.com reached out to College Football Quotes but a message for comment was not immediately returned.

I’m sorry what? This is fake. I’ve never published anything like that from MC. — Rob Moseley (@DuckFootball) July 1, 2019

This is fake. I’ve never published anything from MC saying anything like this. — Rob Moseley (@DuckFootball) July 1, 2019

Moseley also took to Twitter to say he had a brief conversation through direct message with the Twitter handle but was then blocked.

The tweet has made the rounds as former Auburn star Deshaun Davis even replied to the tweet.

That quote is fake, FYI. That account is run by a Washington fan looking to make Oregon look bad, since the two schools are rivals. Mario Cristobal has never said anything like that, and I've certainly never reported anything like that -- because it's fake. — Rob Moseley (@DuckFootball) July 1, 2019

Oregon beat writer and former AL.com sports reporter James Crepea also shot down any notion that Cristobal ever uttered the comment.

This is #fakenews Mario Cristobal never said anything like this. https://t.co/Uew33g8gau — James Crepea (@JamesCrepea) July 1, 2019

Auburn and Oregon meet in the 2019 AdvoCare Classic at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Aug. 31. The game will be televised on ABC. It will be the second meeting between the two programs and the first since the 2010 national championship game.

Cristobal knows plenty about Auburn. He was on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama from 2013 to 2016 before joining the Oregon staff.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.