Penn State is set to travel to Alabama this weekend to face Auburn on Saturday, Sept. 17.
However, a huge wrench got thrown in the Nittany Lions’ travel plans earlier this week.
The Athletic’s Audrey Snyder reported that Montgomery Regional Airport is under construction and has one-third of the runway closed at this time. This means that Penn State’s charter flight wouldn’t be able to land at the airport on Friday as previously expected.
But, the team won’t let this ruin their game plan for Saturday. Penn State coach James Franklin detailed some of the team’s travel options on Tuesday.
“Flights are challenging. Hotels are challenging,” Franklin said. “There are some things that we’re going to talk to the team about [this week] just to be prepared for, but we got a plan for it. It is a little bit different than the way we normally operate.”
One of the options right now is for Penn State to fly into Columbus, Ga., and then travel 90 miles to Montgomery by police escort. The team already has a hotel for Friday night in Montgomery.
Another option is for the team to land at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. The logistics are still being worked out, but at least the team has options.
Auburn’s associate athletic director for operations Jeremy Roberts has been assisting Penn State this week while they go over options for the team.
“I guess federal government work doesn’t stop for football season, contrary to what the world thinks,” Roberts said. “Everybody thinks college football is king, but in Montgomery, Ala., getting the airport fixed for F-16s and F-35s is more important, right?”
The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, giving Penn State a bit of time to figure out how they will arrive at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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