Notre Dame, led by Fairhope alum Riley Leonard, and Georgia attended Media Day and practice in the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 30 and 31, 2024, ahead of the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The Fighting Irish and Bulldogs were supposed to kick off Jan. 1, but the game, which is one of the four quarterfinal matchups in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, was postponed to Jan. 2 after a deadly terror attack in the Big Easy where a man careened a pickup truck down Bourbon Street in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day as people celebrated along the pedestrian corridor known for revelry. The man, who was killed by police after he opened fire after crashing the vehicle, killed 15 people and injured around 30.

Both teams sheltered in place at their hotels the day of Jan. 1 as the scene remained active and officials, city, state and federal investigators, worked to ensure the city was safe. Bomb dogs swept through the stadium Wednesday as investigators swept every street of the French Quarter, finding two improvised explosive devices a few blocks down from where the attack took place.

Notre Dame invited fans who were staying at their hotel in the city to attend a previously scheduled mass.