Relive Onward State’s Road Trip To Columbus
For the second time in three weeks, Penn State football traveled to the Midwest for an away game, with the Nittany Lions making the trip to the worst state ever: Ohio.
With Ohio State being close to State College, the football beat traveled in traditional road trip fashion. Let’s take a look back at Onward State’s road trip to Columbus, Ohio.
Friday
We left State College around noon so we would have enough time in Columbus to galivant and celebrate Halloween.
I picked up Cooper, Oscar, and Ericka, and we hit the road. The fifth member of the football beat, Collin, drove separately, but we were together in spirit.
About one and a half hours into our drive, we made a quick stop at Snappy’s for gas. Cooper said cluck it and got a chicken sandwich that, according to him, had about as much moisture as a rock.
Throughout the drive, we listened to a wide selection of music, ranging from Guns N’ Roses to Lana Del Rey to Owl City. Ericka and I enjoyed being serenaded by Cooper’s singing. Cooper and Oscar were also giggling in the back seat the whole ride.
We crossed state lines around 3 p.m. and received a call from Collin shortly after. He was experiencing FOMO.
The drive was fairly uneventful until we got to Akron, Ohio, where Oscar got excited about passing through his king LeBron’s home turf.
New state alert
— Cooper Cazares (@CooperCazares) October 31, 2025pic.twitter.com/NG5A6CN9xh
We arrived at our Motel 6 and met up with Collin before grabbing a quick dinner. After getting our grub on, we all went back to change into our Halloween costumes and then headed into downtown Columbus for the night.
Aren’t we just the best?
We started our night at a bar called Ethyl & Tank, but didn’t stay long. We met up with some of Collin’s hometown friends and then accompanied them to a frat party.
This was Cooper and Oscar’s first frat party ever, and let’s just say it didn’t disappoint.
We stayed at the party for about an hour, but then I got really cold (I’m just a girl), so we moved on. While deciding on our next stop, we took a break at an Indian restaurant called Rollz Rice Indian Kitchen. Rollz Rice, if you see this, you guys rocked.
The restaurant had excellent hospitality and had a bar. We befriended the bartender, and after spending a significant amount of time there, he gave us free shots. Sir, if you see this, thank you for fueling our night.
Ericka and I hugged our new friend goodbye, and then we pivoted to a bar called Our-R-Inn. The bar had a large outdoor area and an upstairs area. We hung out upstairs for a while and played a game called “Boom It”, which I was first introduced to on Onward State’s road trip to Purdue last year.
The vibes at the bar were high, and we saw some very interesting costumes. After a great night, we headed back to our hotel to rest up for the game.
Saturday
Gameday.
On Saturday, we woke up to a spectacular view of the sunrise from our Motel 6. What a great way to start November.
After we stopped at a Sheetz for some breakfast, we made our way over to Ohio Stadium. The police presence was quite large, so it took us a while to get to our parking garage.
Cooper, Oscar, and Collin headed up to the press box once we arrived, and Ericka and I traveled down to our bunker. Yes, Ohio State had us working in a bunker for the game.
We all know what happened next: The Nittany Lions fell to the Buckeyes 38-14.
Despite the loss, the football beat was still #havingfun.
Ericka got a picture with Brutus. I enjoyed the sunny day, and the guys had access to a McDonald’s smoothie bar in the press box.
Exhausted after the day, we headed back to our hotel and cleaned up for dinner. We decided to order a copious amount of pizza from a place called Bobby Jo’s. We were all starving, so naturally we got way too much food and had lots left over.
We spent the rest of the night in the hotel playing card games and watching the World Series. Oscar is a Dodgers fan, so after he celebrated the win, we all hit the hay.
Sunday
The beat packed up and said goodbye to Columbus Sunday morning with our leftover Bobby Jo’s in hand.
About two hours into our drive back, I realized I had left Ericka’s pizza on top of my car. Unfortunately, that pizza was long gone when we finally stopped to check.
We eventually made it back to State College, ending another successful Onward State road trip. Stay tuned for our trip to Michigan State in a couple of weeks!
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