The College Football Playoff quarterfinals conclude on Thursday with the Sugar Bowl between No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame.
The Bulldogs and Irish are set to square off against each other a day later than originally scheduled due to what the FBI is considering a terrorist attack early Wednesday in New Orleans’ French Quarter.
‘Tragic. To have what’s happened in our country where you come and feel safe and a lot of people lost their lives, it’s saddening, it’s scary,’ Smart told Smith. ‘I first want to thank the first responders who’ve done such a tremendous job keeping the city safe since then and doing what they do. These kids want to come play a football game and do what they love to do and they got an opportunity to do that today.’
He added: ‘Things are bigger than football out there. Sometimes we get caught up in our own selves in our own moment and you lose sight of how blessed we are every day to have the opportunity we have to play football and play in a CFP quarterfinal game against historic programs. So a lot of times when you have gratitude, it takes away a lot of anxiety.’
ESPN’s Molly McGrath reported on ‘SportsCenter’ that Georgia and Notre Dame both stayed inside their hotels for the majority of Wednesday in a ‘lockdown’ setting until it was clear for them to head onto team buses for a walk-on at the stadium late Wednesday night.
Smith also asked Smart if the postponed game will have any impact on his team and the way they come out Thursday against the Irish.
‘I think it just changes things. We do a lot of change around our place a lot of times to try to prepare for things like this. We’re a very, very resilient group and I expect them to be resilient today.’
The winner of Thursday’s Sugar Bowl will advance to face No. 6 Penn State in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9.