Sports

USC Stuck Ohio State Players’ Families In The Worst-Possible Seats For College Football Game In Los Angeles

by Last Updated
USC Ohio State football players family parents tickets worst seats view Coliseum.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

USC defeated Ohio State during the high-stakes college football game on Saturday night. A large amount of Buckeyes players’ families decided to make the trip to Los Angeles but the Trojans stuck them in the worst-possible seats at the Coliseum.

They had a better view of the toilets than they did of the field!

In the end, it might’ve been better if the visiting parents, friends and families couldn’t see the college football game at all. It was hard to watch.

USC drew an okay crowd for the college football game.

As programs all over the country continue to struggle with attendance, Saturday was a marquee matchup between two blue blood programs. It was announced as a sellout. USC needs to win out to make the College Football Playoff. Ohio State was coming off of a huge win over Indiana and will be without starting quarterback Julian Sayin for the rest of the season.

All of this goes to say that there was a lot at stake for the Trojans and the Buckeyes, especially because these two historic programs had not played each other since 2017 and had not played “on campus” since 2009. And to add to the excitement, the game was announced as a sellout!

However, the stadium did not come anywhere close to capacity. Fans either decided to stay home on Halloween night, decided to stay out of the rain (Los Angelenos can’t handle it), and/or decided not to show up because they wanted Lincoln Riley to be fired.

Here is a look at the crowd at kickoff:

This was about halfway through the first quarter:

Not only was the crowd much smaller than expected, there were a lot of Buckeyes in attendance. Listen to the pop as Ohio State ran out of the tunnel during pregame:

Now, to be fair, as is typical for Los Angeles, there were some late arrivers. Here is how it looked with two minutes remaining:

The student section was rocking.

Those who did show up to the Coliseum also got to storm the field in victory.

Although it was not a capacity crowd, it was still an incredible scene. Fans that made the trip from Columbus may not agree.

Ohio State players’ families had the worst seats in the stadium.

I am unable to speak to the ticket policies at Ohio State and USC specifically. However, typically speaking, college football players receive a limited number of complimentary tickets for both home and away games through their school’s player-guest list. They usually get anywhere between 2-4 tickets per game. Sometimes more by request or by trading/sharing with teammates.

Host schools are required to provide a designated block of tickets for the visiting team and those seats are usually located in a specific visitor section. They might be located alongside the visiting fans. They might be specific to the players’ friends and families. It all depends on the school, the amount of tickets requested, etc.

Family and friends are able to pick up their tickets on game day at the designated will call for visiting players. Only players who make the travel roster are allotted guest tickets for away games.

Riley Pettijohn is on the Buckeyes travel roster. The sophomore linebacker recorded five total tackles and a pass breakup against the Trojans on Saturday. He had his parents in the stands to watch him play.

Mr. and Mrs. Pettijohn sat in the visiting parent/family section. They were relegated to the far corner of the east end zone near the Peristyle. Their seats had a better view of the premium on-field suites and bathrooms than the actual game, a few hundred feet from the back of the end zone. This was the view:

Mrs. Pettijohn was not complaining about the opportunity to watch her son play but she would’ve preferred a better vantage point! USC stuck the families and friends of Ohio State football players in the worst-possible seats at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.