A fan's guide to Utah football's season-opener at UCLA

SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah will open its season late Saturday against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

You, a Utah fan, have decided to take the long holiday weekend to travel to the Los Angeles area. Maybe you've been to L.A. for a Utes game, maybe you've never been to Southern California at all.

Either way, I am here to ensure that your season-opening experience goes well.

Here is a quick fan's guide to the Utes' trip to the Rose Bowl to take on the Bruins.

BUR and LGB > LAX

I had somehow never been to Los Angeles until 2016, when I was 34-years old.

Then, I started covering Utah football. In four seasons from 2020-23, I count seven times I was in L.A. for either games, or the Rose Bowl in 2021 and 2022, and Pac-12 media days.

If you are traveling to L.A. for Utah-UCLA, for the love of everything, please do everything in your power to avoid LAX. It is massive, it is logistically difficult in every way, but especially if you plan on using Uber or Lyft. Overall, a miserable experience.

Burbank is a small terminal, and while the rental car facility is a bit of a walk, that still beats taking a shuttle, which you are required to do at LAX.

Long Beach is even more of a delight. It is even smaller than Burbank, with the rental car facility right outside the door. If things break right, you could be in a rental car within 10 minutes of getting off your flight.

Here's the problem: Between the three airports, LAX has by far the most flight options, and, depending on which airline you prefer (shouts to Delta), the best flight times. Both Rose Bowl trips for me were through LAX because of the timing, but it was such a zoo the morning after the 2021 game, that I missed the flight home.

Man, I'm writing this, and I'm longing for a trip through LGB. People told me for years to go through there, but I could never make it work. Finally, in 2023, I flew through Long Beach for Utah-USC, and I would do it again every time if I could.

I completely understand why you're willing to deal with LAX, but I do not recommend it.

I've got your pregame meal spot

The aforementioned first trip to L.A. in 2016 was for a wedding with my wife when we were dating.

One morning, we Googled "breakfast in Pasadena." An unassuming place called Lucky Boy popped up, and I've been in love ever since.

For what it's worth, there are two locations with the same menu at each. The location on Arroyo Parkway is a walkup window, while the location on Walnut Street has indoor and outdoor seating.

Lucky Boy bills itself as a burger place, but most of the breakfast menu is available all day. To that end, the star of Lucky Boy is the breakfast burrito, which is the size of your head, and will have you full across multiple meals.

Utah-UCLA is a 9 p.m. PDT kickoff. If you do a Lucky Boy breakfast burrito pregame, you will not need to spend money on food at the Rose Bowl. I give you my personal guarantee there.

Seriously, though, I've had a few things over time. I promise, the menu is good and you will not be disappointed.

Leave early

When I'm in L.A., the combination of the food, the weather, and the laidback vibes really make me believe that I could be happy living in Southern California.

Then, I start driving in L.A., and that honestly might be a dealbreaker for me ever living there.

Pick a time of day, any time of day, and it's a mess.

Early in the 2021 season, Utah was playing San Diego State, which was playing home games in Carson while Snapdragon Stadium was being built.

I stayed in El Segundo for that trip. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a pre-dawn drive to Malibu on Saturday morning, get a hike in, and grab some breakfast somewhere along Pacific Coast Highway.

El Segundo to Malibu should be about 35 minutes, with most of the drive spent on Interstate 10.

That trip, which occurred on a Saturday morning, mostly before the sun was even in view, took over an hour.

That's unacceptable.

The point here is, just know that you need to leave time to get to Pasadena.

No, this is not the Rose Bowl Game, where 100,000-plus people are trying to get in there, but getting to the stadium requires weaving through a residential neighborhood, which comes after navigating I-110 and I-5.

Trust me, leave time to make the drive to Pasadena, which will leave you time to go to Lucky Boy, which will leave you time to get to the Rose Bowl.

This is not my first rodeo.

Go pay respects at The Rose Plaza

For the unaware, outside Gate A at the Rose Bowl is "The Rose Plaza."

That area includes personalized bricks, generally purchased by fans as a memento or to offer memories of the Rose Bowl. Do you know how sometimes you'll see an inscription on a park bench from loved ones? Same idea.

Anyway, in section 38 of The Rose Plaza, there are two bricks in memory of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, both of which were installed ahead of Utah's second trip to the Rose Bowl following the 2022 season.

It's worth checking out.

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