Relive Onward State’s Road Trip To Philadelphia
For the first time in the 2026 season, Penn State football departed from Happy Valley for an away game.
Fortunately, they didn’t even leave the state for their Week 2 matchup against the Temple Owls at Lincoln Financial Field.
Philadelphia is just over 150 miles away from State College, Pennsylvania, presenting the football beat with a lovely road trip to eastern Pennsylvania. Let’s take a look at all that went down during Onward State’s seven-ish-hour round trip to Philly!
Saturday
We opted for a day trip rather than leaving Friday night and staying overnight in the city, which meant we started our journey at 5:30 a.m.
Because of personal matters, Jamie was already home in New York, so he planned to drive down to the Linc alone. Meanwhile, Ericka picked up Oscar and me from our respective homes, and then we hit the road.
The @OnwardState football beat is headed East to Philly
— Cadyn Gill (@cgill214) September 12, 2026pic.twitter.com/lK1pWMIjZ5
I’d be lying if I said I was enthusiastic about delivering over eight hours of Penn State football coverage while running on less than five hours of sleep, but somebody’s gotta do it!
Luckily, Ericka cranked up the energy with a wonderfully rangy playlist that featured a lot of Harry Styles, which Oscar and I both appreciated.
About an hour into the drive, I ate the bagel with cream cheese I packed from home. Along with my breakfast, I witnessed a beautiful fusion of sunrise colors paint the sky, which undoubtedly elevated our spirits.
getting caffeinated by @Rutters
— Cadyn Gill (@cgill214) September 12, 2026pic.twitter.com/d3FCP8lAuc
While we contemplated stopping at Onvo, the official convenience store of Penn State football, we instead chose Rutter’s, where we each snagged a beverage of choice before Ericka filled up her gas tank. Personally, I protein-maxxed with a Starbucks protein coffee.
With caffeine coursing through my veins, I was now mentally ready to engage in some deep road trip topics of conversation with my fellow beat members, including sharing why we each, as out-of-staters, chose to come to Penn State, how frustrating the current communications job market is, and judging people we went to high school with for having kids unnecessarily early. Naturally, that kind of nuanced, personal banter made the home stretch of the drive fly by.
We rolled into the stadium lot just before 9 a.m. and were blessed with the sight of a total blue & white tailgate takeover.
Once we made it up to the Lincoln Financial Field press box, we grew frustrated by the lack of available eats, since road tripping is proven to make you hungrier. So Oscar and I grabbed a cup-a-joe, which I found horribly acidic, and I dumped it out 10 minutes later.
They eventually brought out cold boxed lunches, which I suppose you’d expect at a Temple game. I first grabbed a buffalo chicken wrap, but immediately threw it out because of its mysterious texture and definitely not buffalo flavor. Fortunately, the turkey and cheddar on white bread was much better and fueled me for the next six hours of blog duties, along with Lay’s potato chips, an apple, and a chocolate chip cookie.
After talking to Matt Campbell and some of his players at media, taking in the scenes of the stadium from the field, and writing our siders, it was finally time to head home, but not before the Cowboys fans of the beat got a cheeky photo documenting our infiltration.
forever dem boyz
— Cadyn Gill (@cgill214) September 12, 2026
Ericka didn’t have any more photos to capture, so she headed back to State College while we were working on our postgame coverage.
We shuffled into Jamie’s vehicle, but we wanted to find a nice spot to eat around the city before we trekked home. As a certified foodie does, I pulled out my trusty Beli app and browsed the nearby options. I suggested one of my saved places, called El Chingon, and the boys were on board.
After eating our meal, we headed back to Penn State in what felt like the longest drive of my life. The miles simply did not go down as we chugged across the Pennsylvania interstate. Even a stop at Wawa for a protein bar didn’t help.
We arrived home just before midnight, ending a 20-hour day.
Stay tuned for our trip to Evanston, Illinois in a couple of weeks!
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