NEW ORLEANS — Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua woke up Wednesday at 5:30 a.m. and checked his phone. Several news alerts popped up. The words “domestic terror attack” flashed across his screen. He clicked the first link wondering where the incident happened.

“It turned out,” Bevacqua said after Notre Dame’s 23-10 win over Georgia on Thursday in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, “that it happened just a few blocks from us.”

Wednesday, Jan. 1 was supposed to be game day for the coaches and players at Georgia and Notre Dame. Instead, most had a similar sense of dread and confusion as Bevacqua when they awoke to phone messages from family and friends, all asking about the attack in New Orleans, where a man drove his pickup truck down Bourbon Street a little after 3 a.m., killing 14 people and injuring dozens more before being shot and killed by police.

In the 36 hours that followed, officials, coaches and administrators from the schools and bowl game worked around the clock — first to confirm the physical safety of hundreds of players, staff, family and friends, and then to simultaneously make sure everyone could process the tragedy while also finding a way to play a college football game that would be the biggest of the season for both teams.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey received a call from Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley a little after 6 a.m. on Wednesday. Hundley explained that an incident had occurred on Bourbon Street, just three blocks from Georgia’s team hotel. Details were sketchy, but there was already talk that the game’s scheduled kickoff on Wednesday night could be in jeopardy.

Sankey has been through similar uncertainty before, he said — the COVID-19 season, a bomb threat before a bowl game — and his first instinct was to let the dust settle, to avoid the rumors and speculation in favor of hard facts. So, he decided to go for a run. He left his hotel, turned down Canal Street in the heart of the French Quarter, and quickly understood just how grim the situation was.

“You see the coroner’s wagon,” Sankey said, “and I realized pretty quickly the scope of the scene.”

Earlier in the week, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard had gone around the locker room asking each of his teammates if they had spare tickets for the game. Leonard is from Fairhope, Alabama, less than a three-hour drive from New Orleans, and this was the closest he’d ever had to a home game in his college career. He had close to 100 family and friends, including the mayor of Fairhope, planning to make the trip.

By Wednesday morning, he was just hoping few had yet to get into their cars for the drive.

Leonard’s father, Chad, awakened to the sounds of emergency vehicles just after 3 a.m. but assumed it was the typical background noise in a city like New Orleans, where the revelry doesn’t end until the sun is up, and the sirens are part of the soundtrack of the party. His wife, Heather, also noticed all the text messages popping up on her phone but assumed it was friends saying, “Happy New Year” and didn’t check until morning.

“It was just a sad, bizarre day trying to communicate with everybody,” Heather Leonard said.

Chad Leonard did a quick roll call, scrolling through his phone to reach out to everyone he knew who was planning to be at the game. Everyone was safe.

Meanwhile, Chad and Heather were being pinged by the staff at Notre Dame. After accounting for players and support staff, head coach Marcus Freeman turned his attention to the cadre of family members he knew were in town to support their sons.

“They wanted every parent to check in and make sure their group was OK,” Heather Leonard said. “They told us the players were all OK, and they just wanted to make sure we were good.”

Georgia and Notre Dame players were effectively under lockdown at their team hotels through the early part of the day, still unsure if there was a game to be played.

Figuring out that part fell to a small group of law enforcement, government officials, conference and team personnel and Hundley, the Sugar Bowl CEO.

“It was a whirlwind,” Hundley said. “I was questioning what it meant, were we going to be able to play?”

Hundley was a centerpiece in a phone tree that extended from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to the city’s police chief, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, leadership at the FBI and state police department, Sankey and the teams’ athletics directors, along with the staff at the Caesars Superdome, which was scheduled to host the Sugar Bowl on Wednesday and then immediately make room for another event happening Thursday.

By midmorning, Hundley said, it was clear the game couldn’t be played as scheduled. The bulk of the city’s law enforcement was focused on investigating the attack. And as of a Wednesday afternoon news conference, investigators still believed the attack could involve more than just the driver of the pickup truck. So, safety concerns for the city remained, and there would be insufficient security for the game.

Landry quickly got to work connecting city and Sugar Bowl officials with law enforcement around the region. Hundley said he was convinced the game could safely be played the following day. Unlike in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when the Sugar Bowl was moved to Atlanta, there was never any serious discussion of changing venues.

“There was confidence from law enforcement they’d have the necessary assets in place,” Hundley said. “And this is a big-event city. When it comes to logistics, we can do almost anything. We knew it would be a matter of just working through details.”

Still, those details were massive. Sugar Bowl officials had to work to ensure there were enough hotel rooms for the teams for an extra night, work with law enforcement to beef up security, adjust the Superdome’s event schedule, and work with ESPN and other media partners to find a broadcast window that worked.

The initial plan was to move the game back 24 hours and kick off in a prime-time TV window Thursday, but both teams were eager to play the game as soon as it was safe to do so. Sankey had been on a text chain with Georgia president Jere Morehead, AD Josh Brooks and head coach Kirby Smart throughout the day. Bevacqua said he traded more than 20 texts with College Football Playoff executive director Rich Clark, hoping to find a path to get the game played as quickly as possible. Ultimately, city and state leaders were able to gather support from the FBI, ATF and other Louisiana and out-of-state police departments to cover security needs for the game.

“The winning team would’ve already lost a day in that,” Sankey said. “So, there were some questions that produced more phone calls and text messages. About 3 or 4 p.m. we understood that there’d be enough time for security preparations [for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff].”

In the team hotels, coaches were working to find a course of action that allowed the teams to process the tragedy of the day while still focusing on a game that needed to be played.

Smart set up a FaceTime call with coaches and team leadership and came up with a plan. “We brought the players down and met with them and said, ‘This is the plan moving forward,'” Smart said. “They said, ‘Let’s go. Put the ball down and get ready to go play.'”

Freeman’s initial thought was to keep the team as dialed in to football as possible but changed his mind.

“Once you found out more details about the tragedy, the emotions took over each individual differently,” he said.

Notre Dame team chaplain Rev. Nathan D. Wills held a team prayer service that afternoon.

“It’s OK to mourn for what happened in this city and what happened to these victims,” Bevacqua said of the prayer service message. “But you can also enjoy what you have tomorrow and this opportunity. That’s the human condition, right? Dealing with the worst of the worst and this unbelievable moment in the lives of these young student athletes, almost simultaneously. I think that was tough on them, but it’s to the credit of Coach Freeman and his staff, I think the team handled it so well.”

Freeman held a normal walk-through and a team meeting, but then he gave the team three hours Wednesday night to visit with family.

“Being a parent myself, in times of tragedy, you want to be around your children,” Freeman said. “I think that helped the parents as much as it helped the players to be around each other, and to help them reset and get their mind into a place that it needed to be.”

It was a necessary escape, defensive end R.J. Oben said.

“It was good to take time off to spend with our families and clear our minds,” he said. “We woke up with the intention to play a game. We didn’t really know we weren’t going to be playing until about 3 in the afternoon. Once we talked about it, Coach gave us a schedule, guys stayed together and stayed locked in.”

A number of players stayed in — some watching movies on Netflix, some getting extra rest, and a number investing in more film study of Georgia, including Leonard.

After team meetings, Leonard texted quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and asked to get in some extra work. They spent more than four hours sifting through tape of Georgia.

“Every single person in our locker room is praying for those families that are out there,” Leonard said. “But as a Notre Dame player, you recruit the right people for a reason. And I think adding another day is just helping our superpower out. We say our superpowers all the time: our preparation and the character in our locker room. Those are two intangible things that we have that we utilize.”

If Leonard thought the extra time benefited the Irish, Smart was quick to dismiss any notion that the tragic events had any impact on how his team performed when it finally took the field.

“That was a very traumatic event,” Smart said. “But this team was focused and ready to go play. So, I’m not going to sit here and talk about the tragedy affecting our team. Notre Dame played well. We didn’t play great. But when we turned the ball over twice and have a kickoff returned, that’s what I attribute the loss to. Not to the tragedy or what happened. And that’s not any disrespect to the community of New Orleans or the people with tragic losses.”

By Thursday morning, Bourbon Street had reopened to foot traffic. Revelers — many in Georgia red and black or Notre Dame green and gold — enjoyed lunch and cocktails before making their way to the stadium for a midafternoon kickoff.

But around the Superdome, it was clear things had changed. Most streets surrounding the stadium were closed to vehicle traffic. K-9 units and armed police were omnipresent. SWAT team trucks were parked on nearly every corner, and photographers snapped pictures of the eerie scene.

Inside the stadium though, the reverie continued.

More than 57,000 fans came through the gates — about 80% of what had initially been expected — for a robust turnout that surprised even Hundley.

New Orleans native Samyra sang the national anthem, and the crowd erupted in chants of “U-S-A, U-S-A.” Before the game, Notre Dame players decided they wanted to make a gesture of support. They ran onto the field carrying the American flag.

“It was a hard day for many reasons but the teamwork with [local, state and bowl officials] — everybody came together and said, ‘Let’s try to make the best situation out of a really horrible moment in time for the city and America,” said Bevacqua, who spent Wednesday from 5:30 a.m. to midnight on the phone trying to make the game happen. “And there was such energy in the stadium. That was comforting to see.”

Notre Dame won. That won’t be what most fans remember about this year’s Sugar Bowl. As Hundley stood on the field amid postgame confetti and celebrations, having barely slept in the past 40 hours, he thought that perhaps they won’t remember it entirely for an act of terrorism either. Instead, they might also think of the resilience of a city and the effort of so many people who came together to ensure the game could be played.

“Sports can really be a healing exercise,” Hundley said. “I don’t know if this was or wasn’t, but I sure hope it was.”

Mark Schlabach contributed to this story.

The College Football Playoff will not flip the dates and times of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic and the Capital One Orange Bowl after SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said on Thursday he made the request to change them.

With its 23-10 Allstate Sugar Bowl win against Georgia on Thursday, Notre Dame will face Penn State on Jan. 9 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). On New Year’s Eve, Penn State advanced when it beat Boise State 31-14 in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

The quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl was delayed after a deadly pickup truck attack in New Orleans that killed 15 people and injured dozens more.

Sankey’s concern was a potential disadvantage for Notre Dame, which will have to play on a shorter turnaround than Penn State, which hasn’t played since New Year’s Eve and will get a longer rest.

“We’re not going to flip the games,” CFP executive director Rich Clark told ESPN on Friday morning. “The concession we made with the athletic directors was to start the Sugar Bowl earlier — an 18-hour or so delay. We slipped the game 18 hours to ensure we could provide safety and security for teams, coaches, staffs, fans and others involved. NOLA and Sugar Bowl officials were amazing.”

Texas needed double overtime to escape a gritty Arizona State team on New Year’s Day 39-31 and the Longhorns will face Ohio State, which trounced Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) on Jan. 10 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic On Thursday, Sankey said he raised the issue of potentially changing the game on “The Paul Finebaum Show” and asked decision-makers involved if it would be possible.

“I recognize that’s difficult,” Sankey told Finebaum. “I don’t know if it is impossible. I raised that [Wednesday] and the focus quickly became today’s kickoff, today’s game and we’ll see what happens.

“This is not an SEC-related issue, it’s for both teams,” Sankey said. “I also know that the communities have dates, they have plans, there are stadium availability issues that can arise. What I’ve not heard back from anybody after having asked the question is really directly a yes or no answer to the question I asked.”

Clark told ESPN on Friday morning that the logistics of changing the games would be difficult.

“Logistics are very complicated, disruptive to the other teams involved that have schedules in place, especially Texas and Ohio State,” he said. “Fans have made arrangements already and this creates issues for them. There’s more, but these are some of the major points.”

Sankey told Finebaum he realizes this conversation resulted from an “unforeseen, unexpected, incredible horrible tragedy that has altered the schedule.”

“Sometimes just like within a game you have to adapt you have to adjust,” Sankey said. “Right now with the schedule set, these teams will have to adjust their preparation based on the schedule that lies ahead.”

The College Football Playoff is back to a familiar place. The semifinals are set with four teams left competing for the national title.

With its 23-10 Allstate Sugar Bowl win against Georgia on Thursday, Notre Dame will face Penn State on Jan. 9 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN). On New Year’s Eve, Penn State advanced when it beat Boise State 31-14 in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl.

Texas needed double overtime to escape a gritty Arizona State team on New Year’s Day 39-31 and the Longhorns will face Ohio State, which trounced Oregon 41-21 in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential, at 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN) on Jan. 10 in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.

Here’s an early look at the semifinal matchups between the four remaining teams in the 12-team field. — Heather Dinich

Jump to:
Penn State vs. Notre Dame
Texas vs. Ohio State

When: Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

What we learned in the quarterfinals: Penn State quarterback Drew Allar is closer to reaching his full NFL draft potential. When Allar was recruited to Penn State, it was with the expectation that he was talented enough to help lead the program to the national stage. Well, the Nittany Lions are here, but not without some bumps along the way. It has been a learning curve for Allar, though some of the throws he made against Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl were NFL-caliber. But what elevated his game was his 13.8 yards per pass attempt, his highest in a start in his career. And all three of his touchdowns came on throws of at least 10 yards, tying his career high. If Allar can lead the Nittany Lions to new heights, his draft stock will rise with them.

“He possesses a lot of raw talent and plays well within their system,” one NFL GM told ESPN. “There’s something still amiss though. Nevertheless, he’s finally making big-time throws and demonstrating some of the potential that was previously mentioned. I’m cautiously optimistic about his future.”

X factor: DE Abdul Carter. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year was injured in the first half against Boise State, and on Thursday posted a picture on X of Darth Vader in a bacta tank, perhaps teasing his comeback. A school spokesman said Thursday the team had no further update. Penn State’s defense was still elite without Carter against Boise State, but the return of the Nittany Lions’ best edge rusher and likely first-round NFL draft pick would be a huge boost in the biggest game to date. Penn State coach James Franklin hasn’t given any update beyond his comments after the Fiesta Bowl. “Obviously … the safety and health and welfare of our guys is priority number one,” Franklin said. “But then, I know Abdul will want to play next week and he’ll do everything in his power to play next week, if he’s able to.”

How Penn State wins: Make Notre Dame one-dimensional by taking away its running game and forcing the Irish into third-and-long situations. Points weren’t easy to come by against a stingy Georgia defense, as Notre Dame’s best offense was a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half and a short field created from a turnover to end the first half. If Penn State can do what it did against Boise State — when it limited Ashton Jeanty to his lowest rushing total of the season — Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard will have a long day trying to create explosive plays in the passing game. — Heather Dinich

What we learned in the quarterfinals: The Notre Dame defense was as good as advertised against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Fighting Irish went into the game ranked No. 2 in the FBS in scoring defense, giving up 13.8 points. The defense surrendered only a field goal in the first half. The Bulldogs looked to be headed for a touchdown late in the first quarter, but Irish safety Adon Shuler jarred the ball loose from tailback Trevor Etienne. Jaiden Ausberry recovered at the Notre Dame 10. After the Irish went ahead 6-3 on a 48-yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the first half, their defense came up with the biggest play of the game. On first-and-10 at the Georgia 25, defensive end RJ Oben sacked quarterback Gunner Stockton, knocking the ball loose. Tackle Junior Tuihalamaka recovered the fumble at the Georgia 13. Quarterback Riley Leonard threw a 13-yard touchdown to Beaux Collins on the next play, giving the Irish a 13-3 lead. The Irish did a nice job against the run, limiting the Bulldogs to 101 yards before sacks, and they dropped Stockton four times.

X factor: Leonard. The Notre Dame offense did just enough against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and the one-time Duke transfer was a big reason why. He had 90 yards on 15-for-29 passing and ran 14 times for 80 yards. With the Bulldogs largely containing tailbacks Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price (they combined for 56 yards on 16 carries), Leonard had to carry much of the offense himself. He made a couple of huge runs for first downs, along with tossing the touchdown to Collins. Notre Dame’s receivers struggled to get much separation against Georgia’s secondary, and it probably won’t get much easier against the Nittany Lions. Penn State is No. 8 in the FBS in run defense, giving up 100.9 yards per game. Leonard might have to do even more if the Irish are going to win the Orange Bowl.

How Notre Dame wins: Given Notre Dame’s limitations on offense (at least against very good defenses), its defense is going to have to continue to force turnovers and get off the field on third down, which is exactly what it did against Georgia. Getting pressure on Allar is going to be a priority. Another big play on special teams, like Jayden Harrison‘s 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to open up the second half against the Bulldogs, wouldn’t hurt either. Irish kicker Mitch Jeter was more than solid against Georgia, converting three field goal attempts longer than 40 yards. Notre Dame also needs to clean up its 10 penalties. — Mark Schlabach

When: Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

What we learned in the quarterfinals: Texas has gone through quite an identity crisis over the past six weeks on offense. The Longhorns went from rushing domination in their final two regular-season games, to not being able to run in the SEC championship, back to rushing domination in the first round against Clemson, back to struggling on the ground against Arizona State. So which Texas rushing attack will show up against Ohio State? There is no doubt that Texas will need a bigger rushing effort to beat the Buckeyes. Perhaps offensive tackle Cameron Williams will be healthy enough to play and help make a difference. Either way, we learned that Texas still has work to do to put together a complete offensive performance.

X factor: TE Gunnar Helm. Texas likes to use its tight ends in the offense coach Steve Sarkisian runs, and Helm came up huge in the win over Arizona State, with three catches for 56 yards — and the winning touchdown in overtime. Helm was also big in the opening-round win over Clemson with six catches for 77 yards and a score. Sarkisian praised him leading into the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, saying, “The multiplicity of the things that the tight end has to do in our systems make him extremely valuable. When you have a good one, I think that that makes our lives a lot easier from a playcaller perspective.”

How Texas wins: Texas has been ranked the No. 1 defense in the country for the bulk of the season for a reason, and we saw that for large swaths of its win over Arizona State. The Longhorns will have to continue to set the tone up front and get after Will Howard to make him uncomfortable. Michigan provided the blueprint for winning in November, when it dominated the Buckeyes on both lines of scrimmage. Texas certainly has the potential to do that with its defensive and offensive fronts. But the Longhorns will have to absolutely be better on their offensive line to have any shot to win. They were overwhelmed at times by a smaller Arizona State defensive front. — Andrea Adelson

What we learned in the quarterfinals: No one can stop Jeremiah Smith, and by extension, the Ohio State offense. Against an Oregon team that defeated them in October, the Buckeyes came out of the gates at the Rose Bowl ready to prove the Ducks didn’t have their number. Thanks to Smith, who caught five balls for 161 yards and had two touchdown receptions of 40-plus yards in the first half alone (he finished with 187 yards), Ohio State looked to be playing at a different speed, as Oregon seemed helpless on both sides of the ball. The freshman wide receiver was a blur, speeding past the Ducks’ secondary with ease while making his case for being not just the best freshman in the country — or the best wide receiver — but one of the best players in the sport. It helped that nearly every Ohio State skill player who touched the ball found gold — running back TreVeyon Henderson averaged double-digit yards per carry while adding two touchdowns, and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka added his own tremendous play in a 42-yard touchdown grab in the first half. It was all a reminder that the best version of this Buckeyes team might just be unstoppable.

X factor: Henderson. Texas’ defense might have no choice but to sell out to stop Smith, and though Smith might still get his, it will certainly open things up for other wideouts in the Buckeyes’ offense in addition to Henderson. The senior has not been particularly splashy this season, but he has been consistent. But in Pasadena, he looked as good as ever, recording his first 100-yard game of the season. There’s no question that Ohio State’s air game is its strength, but if it can pair it with more consistent running from Henderson, the Longhorns will have a tough time on defense.

How Ohio State wins: Short of doing exactly what they did to dominate Oregon in Pasadena, the Buckeyes now have a clear recipe for success. The confidence they inherited from avenging their loss to the Ducks should be enough proof they have the talent and execution to beat any team, especially Texas. A healthy dose of Smith will be essential, and the stout defense that has had more sacks than any other playoff team so far will need to pressure Quinn Ewers, but a lot will certainly fall on Will Howard‘s shoulders. In the Rose Bowl, Howard looked as comfortable as he has all season. He had no crucial mistakes, threw three touchdown passes and found Smith over and over again to much success. He’ll have to do more of the same in the Cotton Bowl. — Paolo Uggetti