Fans at the Sugar Bowl erupted into chants of “USA” at the end of the national anthem in a passionate tribute to the victims of the New Orleans terrorist attack.
New Orleans is still recovering from the devastating attack that took place on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning, when driver Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, plowed a truck into a large crowd celebrating the New Year.
The senseless act of violence claimed the lives of 15 people and left 35 injured, before Jabbar was killed by police in a resulting shootout.
After the horrific events on Bourbon Street, the College Football Playoff quarterfinal between No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame, initially scheduled for 8:45 p.m. ET on New Year's Day at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, was delayed until 4 pm Thursday.
Before the delayed game began, both teams, coaches and fans, as well as emotional New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell, paused to listen to the Star Spangled Banner and observe a moving moment of silence.
And at the end of the national anthem, chants of 'USA' could be heard. echoing around Caesars Superdome.
Fans attending the Sugar Bowl erupted into passionate chants of 'USA.' on Thursday.
New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell was also visibly moved during a moment of silence.
A SWAT team, as well as bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, are deployed Thursday around the Superdome, where hundreds more police lined the surrounding streets ahead of the college football blockbuster.
Police dogs were seen sniffing out vehicles entering the stadium garage, as well as the personal belongings of anyone entering the stadium through rigorous security checks.
Despite the Wednesday morning closure, the Superdome doors opened at 1 pm local time, and pre-game festivities began at 2:15 CST. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 pm in New Orleans, 4 pm EST.
Bourbon Street, the site of the attack, reopened before the game, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters.
However, on Wednesday night, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called for a further delay for the Sugar Bowl, insisting to NBC that it is “premature to have a football game when we still had bodies on the ground.”
Meanwhile, dozens of Fighting Irish and Bulldogs fans have already left New Orleans to catch their flights home. As a result, ticket prices on the secondary market have plummeted for Thursday afternoon's game.
“We can't get new flights,” said Lisa Borrelli, a 34-year-old Philadelphia resident who came to New Orleans with her fiancé, a 2011 Notre Dame graduate.
Postponing the game “was absolutely the right decision,” he said. “I completely understand.”
He said they paid more than $250 per ticket and hadn't bothered to put them on sale yet because the prices were so low: “Of course we're disappointed to miss out and lose so much money on it, but at the end of the year we're not It matters. We are lucky that we will be fine.'
The Sugar Bowl was held at Caesars Superdome on Thursday after a 24-hour delay due to the New Orleans terrorist attacks.
No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame will meet in college football quarterfinals
Thousands of people are still at the college football game even though many were forced to sell their tickets.
Some seats on StubHub were as low as $11 after the tragedy as fans rushed to download tickets.
Some seats on StubHub were as low as $11 after Wednesday's tragedy when dozens of fans dumped tickets on the secondary market. Even the top seats were selling for $446 on StubHub.
Earlier Wednesday, field-level seats were going for up to $1,700 on Ticketmaster before officials opted to postpone the game in the wake of the terrorist attack.
The crucial quarterfinal showdown was postponed after Jabbar, a U.S. citizen and 13-year Army veteran from Texas, plowed his vehicle into crowds on Bourbon Street during New Year's festivities.
He allegedly had an ISIS flag attached to his truck, while investigators also found what appeared to be improvised explosives at the crash site that did not detonate.
Authorities speaking at Thursday's news conference in New Orleans downplayed any potential link between the Bourbon Street attack and another at Donald Trump's Las Vegas hotel, where Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger, 37, detonated an explosive in a rented truck, killing himself.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told NBC that “hundreds of officers” would line the city's streets ahead of the Sugar Bowl's rescheduling: “We are staffing at the same level, if not higher, than the one we were preparing for the Super Bowl (in February).'
The St John's Parish Sheriff's Office SWAT unit was seen at the Caesars Superdome before the game.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said “hundreds” of police officers would be on the streets.
Police and political leaders vowed to capture any accomplices or related crimes, and the FBI was convinced that Jabbar was not solely responsible.
There has been speculation that Wednesday's terrorist attack at Donald Trump's hotel in Las Vegas could be related. Livelsberger is said to have driven a rented Tesla Cybertruck armed with a bomb to the entrance of the hotel, where he died from the explosion.
Both Jabbar and Livelsberger spent time at North Carolina's Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty), although it is unclear if the two had any contact with each other before their respective attacks on New Year's Day.
New Orleans police found weapons and a possible explosive device in Jabbar's vehicle, while two possible explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and taken to safety, the FBI said.
'We do not believe Jabbar was solely responsible. “We are aggressively pursuing all leads, including those from his known associates,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told reporters, adding that investigators were looking into a “number of suspects.”