Notre Dame vs. Georgia in Sugar Bowl postponed after deadly New Orleans truck attack
In the wake of a deadly New Year's Day attack on a crowd of revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, the College Football Playoff Sugar Bowl quarterfinal between Georgia and Notre Dame at the Superdome has been postponed until Thursday.
"The Sugar Bowl Committee has a 90-year history of being a good corporate citizen for the city of New Orleans, and that's why this tragedy hurts us as much as anybody right now," Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley said Wednesday afternoon. "All parties and all agree that it's in the best interest of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game."
Originally set for 7:45 p.m. CST on Wednesday, the game now will kick off at 3 p.m. CST on Thursday.
Hundley originally said the game would be postponed 24 hours, but Notre Dame, Georgia and the College Football Playoff submitted requests to New Orleans authorities to have the kickoff time moved to earlier in the day, prompting the 4 p.m. kickoff.
Hundley said officials were working to make sure the game would be "a safe, efficient, and fun environment for tomorrow night."
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry sought to reassure football fans that the Sugar Bowl would be safe for everyone to attend.
"For the citizens out there that were thinking, 'Oh man, do I really want to go to the Sugar Bowl tomorrow?' I'll tell you one thing, your governor's going to be there. That is proof, believe you me, that that facility and this city is safer today than it was yesterday," he said.
The Sugar Bowl Committee said in a statement that it is "devastated by the terrible events from early this morning."
In a statement, the University of Notre Dame said it was "working with law enforcement and others to determine the full scope and impact of the tragedy."
Notre Dame also asked fans to "join us in prayer for those injured and lost in this senseless act of violence," and invited anyone who was already in New Orleans to join them for a previously scheduled mass Wednesday morning.
Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman emphasized Wednesday that the game is secondary to what the city of New Orleans is going through right now.
"We're hurting for all those affected by this tragedy. The city of New Orleans has welcomed us with open arms, and we join them in prayers for all those victims and families," Freeman said. "You know, what I told the teams is, you know, in the toughest moments, the culture of any program; of a nation is revealed, and I have a lot of faith this country will rally around New Orleans and support all the victims and families that are affected."
The University of Georgia released its own statement on social media.
"We are horrified and saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred in the early hours of New Year's Day in New Orleans. University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni or fans were among the victims. We offer our deepest condolences to all the victims and their families, and we stand in solidarity with the New Orleans community," the statement reads.
Parts of Bourbon Street have been closed off from Canal Street to St. Anne in the wake of the attack, the FBI said.
"There's so much to enjoy about New Orleans... making sure that our routes and the Superdome are safe today for the game," New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said. "We had this tragic event, and we're sorry again to everyone in our community, but we do want you to go about the day, just stay away from Bourbon."
A man intentionally drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street around 3:15 a.m., killing at least 15 people, and sending dozens more others to the hospital. The FBI said the driver was killed in a firefight with police.
"This man was trying to run over as many people as he could," said Kirkpatrick, adding that two police officers were hit by gunfire but were in a stable condition. A long gun was recovered from the scene, law enforcement sources told CBS News.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell referred to it as a likely "terrorist attack," and the FBI said in a news release that they are investigating it "as an act of terrorism."
