When will USC fans care as much about winning as Lincoln Riley? That question was unavoidable Saturday as kickoff photos from the Trojans' 42-26 win over San Jose State showed thousands of empty seats inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. This is a preseason top-15 team with a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, several five-star freshmen making their debuts and legitimate College Football Playoff expectations.
The announced attendance was 51,144, but the optics suggested considerably fewer. Vast sections of the Coliseum looked abandoned, a jarring sight for a blue-blood program equipped with the resources, talent and tradition to compete for championships. Forget Oregon, Ohio State, Indiana and the rest of USC's daunting schedule for a moment.
Riley's most troubling opponent this season might be apathy. The noon kickoff came during a Los Angeles heatwave, with temperatures reaching the mid-90s and the heat index exceeding 100. Many fans on social media cited the conditions as their reason for staying home.
Nobody enjoys baking inside a concrete stadium to watch a four-touchdown favorite. In Norman, Oklahoma, where the Sooners were the lone featured attraction, Riley never had to endure any of this. The Coliseum at kickoff of USC’s season opener with San Jose State pic.twitter.com/4bOhMY487b Los Angeles is an event town, not a market automatically devoted to college football every Saturday.
The Dodgers own the summer and early fall. The Lakers consume oxygen year-round. Those franchises satisfy Hollywood's appetite for spectacle.
USC and UCLA are often left fighting for whatever attention remains, especially when neither program is nationally relevant. Riley is making $12.5 million, the Trojans just opened its $200 million football facility and they landed their first No. 1 signing class this cycle in more than two decades. If the fans don't care now, will it happen?
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