PASADENA, Ca. — Many Georgia Bulldog fans traveled across the country to see their team play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 75 years but some fans didn’t have to venture far at all.
"It’s great to see. I love all my people from Georgia. I love to see the Dog Nation out here. It’s awesome to see," said fan Lee Wood.
Wood grew up in Valdosta, but moved to Southern California 10 years ago. He met up with former Marietta resident Bobby Kosch, now a SoCal firefighter.
Together, they form the California chapter of Bulldog Nation.
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When he saw Georgia beat Auburn in the SEC championship game, he knew the rest of the school's loyal following would be coming west.
"Watch the season this year with when they went up to South Bend to the Notre Dame game, and we just pretty much took over that city. I knew there was going to be a lot of people out here," Kosch said.
Friend Chris West still lives in Valdosta so he flew out to join his friends and see the game.
"Oh man, this is great. I’ve been to the cocktail party down in Jacksonville. That’s good, but this is just completely different. Just the whole atmosphere of being here," West said.
While they did all they could to replicate an Athens tailgate party outside the Rose Bowl, it’s not an exact duplicate.
He’s making carne asada not barbecue.
"So this is definitely California. It’d be a little bit too much to bring a smoker out here and all that, but definitely California style," West said.
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