Fans and media can be cruel when it comes to college football, and sometimes the criticism that programs receive has nothing to do with what is actually going on between the lines.
Take Saturday’s Week 0 matchup at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where No. 14 USC was trying to launch a very crucial 2026 season in a very successful way. There is enormous pressure on the Trojans and specifically on head coach Lincoln Riley to finally get to the College Football Playoff and silence those doubters.
The doubt is pointed at USC and it’s pointed at Riley, who got Oklahoma to the Playoff 3 times but hasn’t done the trick so far in SoCal. But guess what else was pointed at USC (and indirectly Riley) as the 2026 season got going on Saturday? That would be what was happening in the stands at the Coliseum, or specifically what wasn’t happening as the Trojans were methodically taking apart overmatched San Jose State.
There will be time for fans and media to crush Riley and the Trojans for their play on the field, and that likely won’t happen on Saturday with USC already up 21-0 in the 2nd quarter. But those fans and media have eyes all around, and the nationally televised game on NBC was clearly showing everybody that fans weren’t all keyed up for the nonconference opener.
Perhaps the noon local time start in Los Angeles and the lack of a premiere Week 0 opponent had something to do with the low attendance, but it didn’t stop the social media avalanche from devouring USC about the sparse crowd.
Here is just a sampling of the social media onslaught on Saturday:
No matter how many fans showed up on Saturday or how many show up for the rest of USC’s home games, there is a battle for the Trojans and that’s to finally make the Playoff in 2026. Here is what the Kalshi market currently thinks about those chances as USC looks to get over that hump this fall:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
