Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman revealed what his message to his team was, ahead of the Sugar Bowl after the game was postponed over a terror attack.
The terror attack in New Orleans, which left more than a dozen dead, forced the postponement of the College Football Playoff game from Wednesday night to Thursday evening at 4 p.m. ET.
Freeman appeared on ESPN and told Scott Van Pelt what he had told his team.
“The first part of that meeting was to mourn and pray for our country,” he said. “But the end of the meeting was to redirect our focus to preparing for this game.”
Freeman said that he and his players understood the broader meaning of putting a game on and that while winning to advance to the College Football Playoff semifinals is important, rallying around the city in the wake of a terror attack was also on the mind.
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“In the toughest moments, the culture of any program, of a nation, are revealed,” he added. “I have a lot of faith we’re going to rally around the city of New Orleans and support all the victims and families that were affected today.”
The winner of the game between Notre Dame and the Georgia Bulldogs will play Penn State in the next round. The Nittany Lions defeated the Boise State Broncos in the first quarterfinals matchup of the holiday weekend.
Security will be beefed up around the Caesars Superdome. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he planned to attend the game.
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