Fans will have to wait an extra day to watch Georgia and Notre Dame face off in the Sugar Bowl. After a New Year’s terror attack in New Orleans left 10 people dead and 35 injured, authorities pushed the game, which will take place at the Caesars Superdome, from Wednesday to Thursday night.
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“We have been in consultation with ESPN, with the College Football Playoff, with the Southeastern Conference, with the University of Georgia, with Notre Dame, all parties,” Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said, according to CBS News. “And all agree that it’s in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game for 24 hours. Work is fast about to set up a safe and efficient and fun environment for tomorrow night. There will be more details on that in the coming hours.”
New Orleans Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said officials “have a plan and we have been implementing that plan” to ensure the game is safe, per CNN. The plan, Kirkpatrick said, includes additional officer sand “bomb dogs.”
The football game is an important one for both 2-seed Georgia and 7-seed Notre Dame. The winner will advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals.
What to Know About the Terror Attack
The decision to postpone the pivotal game came after a car plowed through a crowd at the intersection of Bourbon Street and Iberville in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day. Ten people were pronounced dead after the incident. Meanwhile, 35 injured individuals were transported to five hospitals throughout the city.
Officers shot and killed Shamsud-Din Jabbar, the 42-year-old Texas-born suspect who previously served in the Army, the outlet reported.
“It did involve a man driving a pickup truck down Bourbon Street at a very fast pace, and it was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he possibly could,” Kirkpatrick said, per the outlet. “It was not a DUI situation. This was more complex and more serious based on the information we have right now.”
Later, the FBI said they were investigating the incident as a terrorist attack.
“This morning, an individual drove a car into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing a number of people and injuring dozens of others,” the FBI said in a statement, per the outlet. “The subject then engaged with local law enforcement and is now deceased. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism.”