Because of NCAA restrictions, the Trojans will travel down a tough and tiring road this weekend.
NCAA regulations dictate that teams can depart campus no sooner than 48 hours prior to kickoff of the game, and with Saturday's game not starting until 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific), the Trojans are being forced to wait until 5 p.m. Thursday to depart campus for LAX. Their charter flight is scheduled to take off at 6 p.m., which puts them into Port Columbus International Airport sometime around 1 a.m. Eastern time. Then with a bus ride and a meal later, bed check is slated for 2 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday night.
Fortunately, wake-up calls won't come until 10:30 a.m. Friday (that's 7:30 a.m. Pacific time), and the schedule allows for a nap in the afternoon, along with a full night's sleep on Friday night and most of Saturday to rest and relax. And the three-hour time difference between L.A. and Columbus is making the travel itinerary look hairier than it actually is.
"It's not as bad as it looks," director of football operations Matt Capurro said.
The flight home will be just as tough as the trip there, if not more so. The game won't end until around midnight Eastern time, and the charter flight back to L.A. isn't scheduled to depart Columbus until 2 a.m. That makes for a scheduled 3 a.m. arrival back at LAX, and a 4 a.m. arrival back on campus.
NCAA regulations dictate that teams can depart campus no sooner than 48 hours prior to kickoff of the game, and with Saturday's game not starting until 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific), the Trojans are being forced to wait until 5 p.m. Thursday to depart campus for LAX. Their charter flight is scheduled to take off at 6 p.m., which puts them into Port Columbus International Airport sometime around 1 a.m. Eastern time. Then with a bus ride and a meal later, bed check is slated for 2 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday night.
Fortunately, wake-up calls won't come until 10:30 a.m. Friday (that's 7:30 a.m. Pacific time), and the schedule allows for a nap in the afternoon, along with a full night's sleep on Friday night and most of Saturday to rest and relax. And the three-hour time difference between L.A. and Columbus is making the travel itinerary look hairier than it actually is.
"It's not as bad as it looks," director of football operations Matt Capurro said.
The flight home will be just as tough as the trip there, if not more so. The game won't end until around midnight Eastern time, and the charter flight back to L.A. isn't scheduled to depart Columbus until 2 a.m. That makes for a scheduled 3 a.m. arrival back at LAX, and a 4 a.m. arrival back on campus.
Leave a comment