The college football world noticed that USC didn't draw a full house in Saturday's season-opening game. USC reported an attendance of 51,144 fans, its lowest amount under head coach Lincoln Riley, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a 42-26 win over San Jose State. That number still feels greatly exaggerated based on scenes of a sparse crowd on a hot afternoon with a 94-degree temperature at kickoff.
Joey McGuire expects a far better turnout when Texas Tech hosts Abilene Christian on Friday night. The Red Raiders head coach referenced USC's low attendance while celebrating his fans on Monday. "Not to take any shots, because I have a lot of respect for USC and Lincoln Riley.
But man, it's really awesome to be playing in Lubbock, Texas, knowing we're going to be playing in front of 60,000," McGuire said, per FOX College Football. "And it's going to be warm. It's going to be every bit as warm as it was Saturday.
The great thing is, we have some really tough people in West Texas that love their football, and they're going to show up no matter what the weather is like. There's not going to be any excuse of why they're not gonna be here for us." USC began the season ranked No. 14, but plenty of fans chose not to withstand the heat on Saturday. They missed Jayden Maiava kick off his Heisman campaign by completing 25 of 29 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.
The school addressed Saturday's limited crowd in a statement to USA Today on Monday. "We understand the factors that impacted Saturday's attendance," USC's statement said. "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." USC can hope more fans pack the Coliseum for Friday's game against Fresno State at 9 p.m.
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