Pictures of an empty Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for USC’s home opener against the San Jose State Spartans were not AI-generated, but Paul Finebaum believes their reaction statement may have been.
The stadium appeared so empty Saturday that USC issued a statement to USA Today, noting the “factors” that impacted the attendance while reaffirming the “high expectations” they have for their home schedule this season.
“We understand the factors that impacted Saturday’s attendance,” the full statement read. “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.”
Monday morning on ESPN’s First Take, Paul Finebaum mocked USC for addressing their embarrassingly sparse crowd, accusing the statement of being AI-generated.
“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
“There is no way a human being at Southern Cal put out that pile of garbage,” Finebaum ranted. “That had to be AI-generated because no sane person at the University of Southern California would say that. And by the way, that 51,000 it looked like about 25,000. I’ve been around sports a long time. When you have nobody at the game, you tend to exaggerate whatever you have.”
USC announced a crowd of more than 51,000 for a stadium that has packed in more than 100,000 fans for singular games in its history. As Finebaum noted, there may have been 51,000 tickets sold or given out, but there were not 51,000 fans in attendance.
“I know there’s a lot to do in SoCal on a late August Saturday afternoon. But this is still the gold standard,” Finebaum continued. “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.”
It was hot, it was August, it was against a rather mundane opponent, but the game counted. And while USC is sure to pack the building at times this season, it looked like nobody cared about their season-opener, which is a dangerous place to find yourself in as one of the most prestigious programs in college football history.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com