Winning a college football season opener usually brings celebration, but USC’s 42-26 victory over San Jose State on Saturday, August 29, felt very different. Inside the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, empty red seats dominated the view. Even with tickets selling for as low as $9 on resale apps, fans simply stayed away, leaving the team to play in front of an uncharacteristically quiet home crowd.

After a promising 11-3 debut season in 2022, head coach Lincoln Riley built massive expectations in Los Angeles. But after four seasons without a College Football Playoff spot and mediocre runs, fan patience has run dangerously thin. In 2026, with the 12-team playoff format offering more room for elite programs, anything short of a playoff berth is considered a failure.

Although the reason behind the empty stands from Week 0 has been credited to the hot weather that day, it also indicates that fan confidence is reaching a critical tipping point right at the start of a make-or-break year, putting Riley on the defensive right out of the gate.

Facing public backlash, Riley pushed back hard against the idea that fans are losing interest in his team. “I don’t buy into the false narrative. I think that comes from a lot of people who don’t follow our program, most of those who have never stepped foot in the Coliseum,” he said. “The reality is, during my years here, attendance has gone up every single year”

LA Times reporter Ryan Kartje shared Riley’s statement in an X post on September 2, where fans quickly challenged the coach’s math. Official records show that only 51,144 people attended Saturday’s game. In a stadium built to hold over 77,500 fans, it marked the smallest home crowd of Riley’s tenure at USC and the lowest turnout at the Coliseum since 2018.

As the program gained immense unwanted attention for the wrong cause, USC released a statement. 

“We understand the factors that ⁠impacted Saturday’s attendance,” USC said in a statement on August 30. “We have high expectations ​and a premier home schedule this season, and we know the competitive ​advantage an electric Coliseum atmosphere can provide our program. We thank our fans who showed up Saturday and look forward to seeing increased attendance the rest of the season.”

While Riley is taking all the heat in this situation, he is not entirely to blame when the weather was merciless. The kickoff was scheduled for the afternoon under the Los Angeles brutal and unforgiving heat. The temperatures fluctuated between 90 and 100 Fahrenheit, and the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for Los Angeles County that day. 

Extreme heat certainly kept casual fans at home on opening day, but the sparse crowd points to a deeper issue than just bad weather. When a traditional powerhouse sells $9 tickets and still cannot fill two-thirds of its venue, it reveals a growing confidence crisis among the Trojan faithful. Fans are withholding their time and money until Riley proves this 2026 roster can legitimately contend with the powerhouse teams of college football.

According to USC’s football attendance records, the Trojans averaged 64,484 fans for home games in 2022 and 66,071 in 2023. In the 2024 season, the number reached a high of 71,571, Riley’s biggest yet. That year, the school ended with an overall 7-6 record and a 4-5 Big Ten record. 

The following season followed the older pattern. According to D1.ticker’s FBS attendance data, the Trojans were down to nearly 3,800 fans from the previous season. In 2025, USC averaged 67,783 fans across all home games.

The latest game has prompted various reactions, including a sly dig from a fellow coach. 

“Not to take any shots, because I have a lot of respect for USC and Lincoln Riley, but it’s really awesome to be playing in Lubbock, Texas, knowing we’re going to be playing in front of 60,000,” Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire said. “It’s going to be warm. It’s going to be every bit as warm as it was Saturday.”

Riley tried to brush off the national noise by calling scrutiny an everyday reality at a blue-blood school. But brushing off public opinion will not fix the financial or recruiting deficit caused by a quiet stadium.

Opening the 2026 season with a win against San Jose State is a small step, but with tough Big Ten opponents coming to town, Riley needs his team to play at a playoff level. Winning big on the field is the only way to get fans back into those empty Coliseum seats and restore USC’s legendary home-field advantage.