How Penn State football’s road trip to Los Angeles is energizing alums on the West Coast
Robbie Wierman lives in San Francisco and doesn’t always get the chance to see the Nittany Lions play. So, when Penn State’s 2024 schedule was publicly released, the alum was quick to get his plans together.
He quickly texted his friend — and Penn State Alumni Association Los Angeles Chapter secretary — Jeannette Rothman, once the date for Penn State’s road matchup with USC was set.
“I was just like, ‘Can you reserve your sofa for me on this date?’ and she said absolutely,” Wierman said. “As soon as we saw the schedule and saw the USC game — it’s a pretty legendary school and I remember a couple of good Rose Bowl matchups — we just knew (the plan) was going to happen.”
Wierman and Rothman are a part of a group of friends doing what many Nittany Lion alums are doing — making the trek to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch Penn State take on the Trojans on Saturday afternoon. Their trips are just a little shorter than most.
Other fans are crossing three time zones. There were more than a dozen passengers wearing Penn State apparel on a flight from Dulles International Airport (near Washington, D.C.) on the Thursday before the game, and there surely even more heading out from various East Coast airports Friday.
But those traveling fans have a lot more opportunities to see the team up-close. Rothman hasn’t seen the team play in-person since it last took on the Trojans in the 2017 Rose Bowl
“I’m just really excited to see Penn State play, as if I’m back — kind of — in Beaver Stadium,” she said. “It’s going to be a very different atmosphere for sure, tailgating especially. Penn State and USC are very different in how they do it. But it’s been so long since I’ve actually seen Penn State play.”
It helps, of course, that two of the friends — Rothman and chapter president Heather Maggi — are deeply involved in the alumni association’s efforts in Los Angeles.
Maggi has been at the helm of the chapter since March of 2021 and has seen the alumni network grow in Southern California since she moved to Los Angeles in 2013.
The group normally gets together at one of the Penn State bars in the area — like the Britannia Pub in Santa Monica, where the chapter will host a pregame party Saturday — and even has a decent crowd for the 9 a.m. local time kickoffs.
“A lot of people show up and it’s a really great way of meeting people and keeping the Penn State vibes going every week,” Rothman said. “It’s really cool, 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning to see a group of Penn Staters watching the game together. Last weekend, I was over at the Britannia and they have a little backyard patio. In October, watching Penn State outside on some TVs with other alums in Los Angeles, it’s perfect. It’s so much fun.”
But this Saturday will be different. Maggi helped get more than 1,000 tickets for PSU alums from USC through their group ticketing sales, and she will be one of the many Nittany Lion fans in attendance for the game.
And fortunately for the local alums, this won’t be an isolated trip, either.
They used to have to “pray to the Rose Bowl Gods” — as Maggi put it — that the Nittany Lions would make it to the Pasadena bowl game, but that’s no longer the case.
Penn State will make a yearly trip to the West Coast for the next four years, including another to Los Angeles to play UCLA next year. Because of that, there will be plenty of other opportunities for the friends to get together. Wierman even mentioned heading north for the matchups with Oregon and Washington in 2026 and 2027.
For now, Saturday will do. The group of friends — joined by many others — will get together and watch their favorite team in a way they haven’t been able to in years.
