The USC Trojans opened their 2026 college football season with a 42-26 victory over the San Jose State Spartans in Los Angeles, but the win was overshadowed by an extraordinary number of empty seats at the LA Coliseum.
Although the University of Southern California announced an official attendance of 51,144 for the Week 0 matchup, local reporters estimated that fewer than half of that number actually turned out to watch the game.
Head coach Lincoln Riley walked out arm in arm with his team into the sparsely populated 77,500-capacity venue, which has served as the home of USC football since 1923 and is set to host its third Summer Olympic Games in 2028.
On the field, the Trojans put on a dominant first-half performance led by quarterback Jayden Maiava, taking a 28-0 lead into the interval before surviving a strong fourth-quarter finish from the Spartans.
Despite the convincing early advantage, supporters tuning in on television expressed shock at the vast expanses of red seats visible throughout the broadcast, with fans flocking to social media to label the scene as "embarrassing" for the program. Resale tickets had dropped below $10 prior to kickoff as the non-conference fixture proved a difficult sell.
Extreme Weather and Social Media Backlash
Soaring temperatures in California played a significant role in keeping supporters away from the midday kickoff. AccuWeather reported temperatures reaching 94 degrees at kickoff, with a real feel reading of 104 degrees.
Former NFL player Will Blackmon, who attended the match, took to social media to defend the absent fanbase, describing the conditions inside the shade-starved stadium as oppressive.
"For everyone dissing the USC attendance I was at the game today. It was outrageously hot and humid with zero shade. No breeze. Nada. (I lived in Dallas and Jacksonville) We could barely survive the 1st quarter and they are playing San Jose State at 12pm. Lol Brutal," Blackmon wrote.
The sparse turnout highlighted an ongoing challenge for USC leadership. Following the 2025 season, when the Trojans averaged 67,783 fans per home game, Riley acknowledged that maintaining high crowd numbers required strong performances, noting: "You have to win. You have to give them something."
Replacement Schedule and Notre Dame Rivalry
The fixture against San Jose State was only added to the schedule in February after USC's traditional rivalry game against Notre Dame was cancelled. The historic matchup was pulled when the two universities failed to reach an agreement over scheduling dates.
Discussions reportedly stalled over the timing of the clash, with USC suggesting the Week 0 slot, which Notre Dame rejected. The two schools have since agreed to resume their annual series in 2030, with games scheduled for Week 1 in 2030 and 2031, followed by Week 1, 2, or 3 in 2032 and 2033.
While the replacement matchup against the Spartans produced low attendance, upcoming home games against high-profile Big Ten rivals Oregon, Washington, and Ohio State are expected to draw significantly larger crowds to the historic venue later in the season.
Lincoln Riley Criticises Fourth Quarter Slump
Speaking after the victory, Riley expressed satisfaction with securing the season-opening win but was vocal about his team's drop in performance during the closing period of the game.
"Good to get the first one under our belt," Riley said. "But kind of a tale of two games for us. First three quarters, a lot of really good football out there with all three sides playing complementary. They dominated the game for three quarters. Exciting ball and a lot of our guys' first games as Trojans. They made a lot of big plays, so obviously that was the highlight of it."
He was far less pleased with the final quarter, during which San Jose State scored 26 points. "Fourth quarter, not up to our standards," Riley added. "A bunch of guys who got opportunities and had several who did not play the way we anticipated. They'll need to learn and grow from it because we're going to need the depth of this roster. We challenged that in the fourth quarter and we did not respond the way we wanted to."
Looking ahead to the remainder of the season, Riley emphasized the necessity for rapid progress. "Games like this, I take it for what it is," Riley said. "You don't hide behind the fact that the fourth quarter wasn't good enough and we're not going to pretend that we didn't dominate the game. We have a lot of work to do, especially with the short week coming up. We'll have to turn this over quick. The first and second games is where you make a lot of improvements. We've got to go attack this week in short order."
