New Orleans Sugar Bowl Between Georgia And Notre Dame Will Go On As Planned Despite Early Morning French Quarter Attack; Teams, Officials Release Statements

Today’s Sugar Bowl college football match-up between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish will proceed as planned at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans despite the deadly carnage visited upon that city earlier this morning.

“The Sugar Bowl Committee is devastated by the terrible events from early this morning,” said Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. We are in ongoing discussions with authorities on the local, state, and federal levels and will communicate further details as they become available.”

On CNN this morning, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said he is “extremely confident” that the game would go on tonight. “The standard operating procedure for a big game like the Sugar Bowl, for a Saints game, for the Super Bowl is to go through the building, make sure there’s nothing there that’s wrong, and then to lock it down. The Sugar Bowl, the Superdome has been locked down. There is going to be no problem there.”

New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick also confirmed that the game, which will be televised on ESPN, is expected to be played as scheduled at 8:45 p.m. ET.

The winner of the game will advance to the College Football Playoff semifinal.

“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,” said a statement released by the University of Georgia. “University personnel are working to determine if any UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni or fans were among the victims.”

Notre Dame officials also said they are “working with law enforcement and others to determine the full scope and impact of the tragedy.”

At least 10 people were killed in the gruesome 3:15 a.m. attack on New Year’s revelers in New Orleans’ French Quarter when a man, who is being investigated as a potential terrorist, drove his vehicle into a crowd. In addition to the immediate fatalities, at least 35 people were injured, some critically.

The driver of the vehicle was shot and killed by police after he began firing on officers from his truck.