Sugar Bowl delayed: UGA or Notre Dame? Penn State will have to wait
NEW ORLEANS - This New Year’s Day was supposed to be the College Football Playoff’s new quarterfinals with the matchups for the semifinals having been determined. Those plans were interrupted by a deadly terror attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans during the early morning hours. It forced the Sugar Bowl to be delayed a day to ensure there was no further threat.
"Some things are bigger than football," Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart posted to his Facebook page. "Today, we pause – not for rivalry or competition – but for reflection."
A sign for the Allstate Sugar Bowl between Georgia and Notre Dame is seen outside the Louisiana Superdome after at least ten people were killed on Bourbon Street when a person allegedly drove into a crowd in the early morning hours of New Years Day o
The Sugar Bowl was supposed to kick off New Year’s Day at 8:45 p.m., but in the wake of the atrocity believed to have been committed by an Islamic State sympathizer, the College Football Playoff, ESPN, the Southeastern Conference, the University of Georgia, the University of Notre Dame, and Caesars Superdome, felt it best to postpone the matchup between the No. 2 Bulldogs and No. 7 Fighting Irish.
"Out of honor for those we lost and to ensure the safety of all, today's game will be postponed," Smart wrote. "Our hearts are with the families, the friends, and the entire New Orleans community."
The game will be played on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m. Eastern, as first reported by the FOX 5 Sports Team. It will be televised on ESPN and all tickets for the New Year’s Day game will be honored.
Fiesta Bowl winner, Orange Bowl matchup
Confetti rains down over the Penn State Nittany Lion football team after their victory over the Boise State Broncos during the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl quarterfinal playoff game on Tuesday December 31, 2024 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. (Photo by Ni
No. 6 seed Penn State (13-2) opened its CFP run with a blowout win over SMU in front of a deafening home crowd and kept rolling through the quarterfinals, overpowering No. 8 Boise State 31-14 in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday.
The Fiesta Bowl win earned the Nittany Lions a spot in the Orange Bowl Jan. 9 against the winner between No. 2 Georgia and No. 3 Notre Dame in a Sugar Bowl pushed back to Thursday due to the deadly New Orleans truck attack early Wednesday.
The other CFP semifinal was determined Wednesday: No. 6 Ohio State will play No. 3 Texas in the Jan. 10 Cotton Bowl.
The Buckeyes (12-2, CFP No. 8 seed) got a bit of revenge against top-ranked Oregon with a 42-21 blowout of the Ducks in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State has been stellar since a disheartening loss to rival Michigan, opening the CFP with two lopsided wins.
The physical Buckeyes manhandled the Ducks from the start, building a 34-point lead to cruise into the semifinals.
"You can see the potential of where we’re at, when we play in all three phases the way we did," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said.
The Longhorns (13-2) didn’t have it quite so easy.
Texas blew a 16-point lead and had to overcome Cam Skattebo’s monster game to beat No. 10 Arizona State 39-31 in the Peach Bowl.
"We weren’t at our best, and it felt like an NCAA March Madness basketball game with the swings of emotions and things," Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. "I’m just proud of these guys because not every game is going to be pretty and not every game is just going to go exactly how you want it to go."
As for Coach Smart, pushing a pause in the Sugar Bowl was a much-needed reminder of what is really important in this life.
"The tragedy in New Orleans reminds us that life is fragile, and moments like these call for unity and respect," Smart said.
"Football will return... but for now, we stand together in grief and remembrance," Smart added.
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The Source: Details in this article were provided by Coach Kirby Smart and previous FOX 5 Atlanta reporting. FOX Sports and The Associated Press also contributed to this story.