Paul Finebaum unloads on USC, Lincoln Riley after sparse Week 0 crowd: 'Disgrace'
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The biggest storyline to emerge from Week 0 of the college football season had little to do with anything that happened on the field — not even Bill Belichick's headline-grabbing upset of TCU in Dublin.
Instead, it had to do with who wasn't in the stands during the Southern California-San Jose State game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That prompted ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum to go on a brief rant about during the Aug. 31 edition of ESPN's "First Take" with Stephen A. Smith and Kimberley A. Martin.
"By the way, that 51,000 looked like 25,000. I've been around sports a long time. When you have nobody at the game, you tend to exaggerate whatever you have," Finebaum said on "First Take."
"That is a downright disgrace."
"There is no way a human being at Southern Cal put out that pile of garbage. That had to be AI generated. Because no sane person at the University of Southern California would say that" – Paul Finebaum pic.twitter.com/7jii5bpQzg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 31, 2026
But, in true Finebaum fashion, he didn't stop there.
"I know there's a lot to do in SoCal on a late August Saturday afternoon, but this is still the gold standard, or used to be the gold standard in college football. Young people used to grow up around the country wanting to play there. This is really absurd," Finebaum said. "It says a little or a lot about the opponent, nobody really wants to see that opponent. But that's the nature of college football, when Southern Cal decided to cancel the Notre Dame game.
"… I don't know the way to San Jose, but it's certainly not a team I would pay money to go see, so I'll give the fans credit for that. But it's still a bad look for Lincoln Riley, who was paid a fortune to leave Oklahoma, a blue-blood program, to go to SoCal, and he hasn't gotten it done yet, and this crowd does not help him at least perceptibly."
The announced attendance for the game was 51,144, its lowest figure under Lincoln Riley and lowest since 2018. The noticeably sparse crowd at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum can be attributed, at least in part, to El Niño: The temperatures were listed at 94 degrees at kickoff, with a real feel temperature of 104 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
"We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance," USC said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports. "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."
Finebaum also offered his two cents on that statement, as well.
"There is no way a human being at Southern Cal put out that pile of garbage. That had to be AI-generated because no sane person at the University of Southern California would say that," Finebaum said."
The Trojans are scheduled to host Fresno State at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 4 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where temperatures are expected to be a high of 86 degrees in Los Angeles.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paul Finebaum unloads on USC, Lincoln Riley after sparse Week 0 crowd: 'Disgrace'
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