Heavy rain poured down on the alumni, students and University of Iowa fans who attended Saturday’s homecoming game, as USC improved its record to 8-2. The Trojans beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 26-21 during a record-breaking storm this weekend, which brought downtown Los Angeles its wettest November on record, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The homecoming game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum marked an unusual occasion when the weather was not Southern California’s typical sunny and warm climate.
“I thought it was a fun turn of events than going [to the Colleseium] and getting sunburned every time,” said Jackson Tavel, a senior studying aerospace engineering.
Despite the rain, Matthew Suh said the atmosphere was “electric” and fans were decorated in an array of colored ponchos.
“Initially, when I realized it was going to be pouring, I was kind of sad,” said Suh, a sophomore majoring in journalism and economics. “When I got to the game, I realized that the rain actually was not so bad, and it was actually kind of enjoyable. I think the rain kind of brought people together and made it more of a fun atmosphere instead of a gloomy atmosphere.”
According to Tavel, there was no shortage of school spirit and high energy at the game. “At one point, a whole group of guys just took their shirts off and started throwing them around,” Tavel said.
Suh was one of many who joined in on the group of students and alumni who didn’t let the rain hinder their experience.
“I think just as soon as we got there, like seeing a bunch of shirtless [guys] swinging their shirts, screaming their heads off, makes you really want to join in. And so we immediately just took off our shirts, joined the crowd.”
Suh said that the group of shirtless individuals started small and gained more traction after they were displayed on the Jumbotron. As time went on, the group grew in size until around 100 members of the students’ section were swinging their shirts over their heads in the rain, according to Suh.
Kuuipo Cashman, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism ’86, said that her husband wanted to sell their tickets to the game, but they stuck it out because “...it’s homecoming and it’ll be fine. The weather people are always wrong.”
Cashman said that she did think about canceling altogether or only staying until halftime, “but once you were there, the energy and the excitement were so amazing. You had to stay until the end.”
“But once you were there, the energy and the excitement were so amazing. You had to stay until the end.”
— Kuuipo Cashman
Despite the electric atmosphere that many attendees experienced, others were not as enthusiastic to attend the rainy game.
Todd Furuike, Marshall School of Business ’88, said he has never been to a homecoming event or football game where it was raining.
“I decided not to attend the game, and so I told a friend of mine, who had tickets for us, to go ahead and sell those, because I just didn’t want to sit out in the rain,” Furuike said.
Although the rain deterred some, Tavel, who has attended every home game this season, said the rain didn’t stop attendees from staying for the duration of the game.
“People stayed longer for this game. I also think that the stadium was louder, or it might have just been my section, because I was yelling and everyone else was yelling too,” said Tavel. “Sometimes people leave when we’re up by a lot or down by a lot, and they’re much more tame, but everyone [on Saturday] was dancing and yelling.”