Sugar Bowl postponement: New date, time announced after terrorism attack delays game

Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley announced the 2024 Sugar Bowl College Football Playoff national quarterfinal will be postponed “24 hours” and will kick off at 8:45 pm ET Thursday.

The change is being made following the tragic “act of terror” when a pickup truck drove into a crowd of New Year’s Eve revelers on New Orleans’ Bourbon Street in Wednesday’s early morning hours. Ten victims were killed and 30 others were injured and transported to local hospitals, according to an early report by the Associated Press.

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“We were scheduled this evening to have a CFP quarterfinal played in the Superdome at 7:45,” Hundley said in a joint press conference with New Orleans officials on Wednesday afternoon. “We have been in consultation with ESPN, with the College Football Playoff, with the Southeastern Conference, with the University of Georgia, with Notre Dame, and all parties agree it’s in the best interests of everybody and public safety that we postpone the game for 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, but for now that’s the plan. We’re going to move forward and play the game.”

The College Football Playoff quarterfinal game between Georgia and Notre Dame was originally supposed to kick off at 8:45 pm ET Wednesday evening inside the Caesars Superdome.

New Orleans Police Commissioner: Suspect ‘hell-bent on creating the carnage’

Ostensibly, the uncertainty surrounding the situation led to the game between the Bulldogs and the Fighting Irish being delayed. The winner will advance to the CFP national semifinals. New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said officers would work to ensure safety at the Sugar Bowl in light of the devastating event, per ESPN.

The Caesars Superdome was swept by authorities in the time following the incident, as a search for explosives devices was conducted due to an abundances of caution. Notre Dame and Georgia were both sheltering-in-place inside their respective hotels during much of the afternoon on Wednesday, as well.

ESPN relayed the information that the male driver responsible was shot and killed by police when he got out of his truck, according to what law enforcement officials told ABC News. The perpetrator was also in possession of an assault rifle and had allegedly been firing a gun while he was driving through the crowd, the officials added.

“He was hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did,” Kirkpatrick said, via ESPN. “It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could.”

Details emerge on reason for Sugar Bowl bomb sweep, ‘terrorism’ designation

The FBI is now leading the investigation into the incident and treating it as an act of terrorism, according to CNN. In a statement from the FBI, confirmed that it is investigating potential IEDs and is treating this as a terrorist investigation.

“Today, at approximately 3:15 a.m. CST, an individual drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others… An ISIS flag was located in the vehicle, and the FBI is working to determine the suspect’s potential associations and affiliations with terrorist organizations,” the statement read.

“Weapons and a potential IED were located in the subject’s vehicle. Other potential IEDs were located in the French Quarter. The FBI’s special agent bomb technicians are working with our law enforcement partners to determine if any of these devices are viable, and they will work to render those devices safe. The FBI is the lead investigative agency, and we are working with our partners to investigate this as an act of terrorism. We are aggressively running down all leads to identify possible associations of the subject.”

The attack took place around 3:15 a.m. when a man drove intentionally his truck into a crowd of people, intending to injure and kill as many people as possible. That came while people were celebrating New Year’s Eve and just hours before the Sugar Bowl is set to be played. This season, the Sugar Bowl is also acting as a College Football Playoff game and a major draw for crowds in the city of New Orleans.

Dan Morrison and Steve Samra contributed to this report.