The college football world joined a moment of silence with the Notre Dame and Georgia football programs in the Superdome Thursday afternoon ahead of the 2025 Sugar Bowl, which was postponed by a day following the New Orleans terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured dozens on New Year's Day. .
A minute of silence was observed immediately before the national anthem was played, followed by chants of “United States of America.”
It was a fitting tribute to the victims of the attack carried out by 42-year-old US military veteran Shamsud Din Jabbar around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday when he plowed a white pickup truck into crowds celebrating the New Year on Bourbon Street.
The deadly attack prompted city, state and federal authorities, along with members of the Sugar Bowl committee, to postpone Wednesday's game, which was scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m. ET.
They postponed the contest to 4pm ET on Thursday.
With news of the postponement, the Bulldogs and Fighting Irish spent most of Wednesday at their hotels.
In the evening, after security cleared the Superdome, Georgia arrived by bus to the venue and conducted a detailed rehearsal.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame players gathered with family and friends to watch the Rose Bowl and Ohio State defeat the previously unbeaten No. 1 Oregon Ducks.
No football was played in the Big Easy on Wednesday, but it was still an exhausting and heartbreaking day.
As Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman told his team, “It's in the toughest moments [that] The culture of any nation program is revealed.
“I have a lot of faith [that] “This country will rally around the city of New Orleans and support all the victims and families impacted today,” Freeman told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt during an appearance Wednesday night.
