Stirring moment fans chant U-S-A at Sugar Bowl in tribute to New Orleans terror attack victims

Fans attending the Sugar Bowl began singing “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 reeling from the devastating attack that took place early Wednesday morning on Bourbon Street, when driver Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, rammed a truck into a large crowd celebrating the New Year.

The senseless act of violence claimed the lives of 15 and left 35 injured, before Jabbar was killed by police in an ensuing gun battle.

Following 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 PM ET on New Year’s Day at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, was postponed until 4 PM on Thursday.

Before the postponed game kicked off, both groups of teams, coaches and fans – as well as emotional New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell – stopped for a rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and a poignant moment of silence.

And at the end of the anthem, “USA” chants rang out around Caesars Superdome.

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell was also visibly emotional during a moment of silence

A SWAT team, as well as bomb-sniffing dogs and their handlers, were out Thursday around the Superdome, where hundreds more police officers lined the surrounding streets before the college football blockbuster.

Police dogs were seen sniffing vehicles entering the stadium’s garage, in addition to the personal belongings of anyone entering the stadium through the strict security checkpoints.

Despite a lockdown on Wednesday morning, the doors to the Superdome opened at 1:00 PM local time, with pre-game festivities kicking off at 2:15 PM CST. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 PM New Orleans, 4:00 PM EST.

Bourbon Street, the site of the attack, has been reopened ahead of the game, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell told reporters.

However, on Wednesday evening, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called for further postponement of the Sugar Bowl, stressing to NBC that it is “premature to hold a football game while there are still bodies on the ground.”

Meanwhile, dozens of Fighting Irish and Bulldogs fans were already leaving New Orleans for their return flight home. As a result, ticket prices on the secondary market for Thursday afternoon’s kickoff have plummeted.

“We can’t get any 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 match “was absolutely the right decision,” she said. “I understand completely.”

She said they paid more than $250 per ticket and hadn’t yet bothered to put them up for resale because the prices were so low: “Of course we’re disappointed to miss it and lose so much money on it, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter. We’re lucky that we’re doing well.’

The Sugar Bowl went ahead Thursday at Caesars Superdome after being postponed for 24 hours due to the terror attacks in New Orleans

No. 2 Georgia and No. 7 Notre Dame will face off in the college football quarterfinals

Thousands still attend the college football game, despite many being forced to sell their tickets

Some seats on StubHub were as low as $11 after the tragedy as fans rushed to unload tickets

Some seats on StubHub were as low as $11 after Wednesday’s tragedy, when dozens of fans unloaded tickets on the secondary market. Even the top seats sold for $446 on StubHub.

Earlier Wednesday, field-level seats were on sale for as much as $1,700 on Ticketmaster before officials opted to postpone the game in the wake of the terror attack.

The crucial quarter-final was postponed after Jabbar, a US citizen and 13-year army veteran from Texas, rammed his vehicle into the crowd on Bourbon Street during New Year’s festivities.

He reportedly had an ISIS flag attached to his truck, while investigators at the crash site also found what appeared to be improvised explosive devices that failed to detonate.

Authorities speaking at Thursday’s news conference in New Orleans downplayed any possible links between the Bourbon Street attack and another at Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel, where 37-year-old Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger detonated an explosive in a rented truck, causing him to commit suicide.

New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told NBC that “hundreds of officers” would line the city streets ahead of the relocated Sugar Bowl: “We are staffing at the same level, if not more, than what we were preparing for the Super Scale [in February].’

The St John’s Parish Sheriff’s Office SWAT unit was seen at Caesars Superdome before the game

New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said “hundreds” of officers would line the streets

Police and political leaders vowed to arrest any accomplices or related crimes, with the FBI confident that Jabbar was not solely responsible.

There was speculation that Wednesday’s terrorist attack at Donald Trump’s Las Vegas hotel could be related. Livelsberger allegedly drove a rented Tesla Cybertruck armed with a bomb to the hotel entrance, where he was killed by the blast.

Both Jabbar and Livelsberger spent time at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in North Carolina, although it remains unclear whether the two had any contact with each other prior to their respective New Year’s Day attacks.

New Orleans police found weapons and a potential explosive device in Jabbar’s vehicle, while two potential explosive devices were found in the French Quarter and made safe, the FBI said.

‘We do not believe that Jabbar was solely responsible. We are aggressively pursuing every lead, including those of his known associates,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan told reporters, adding that investigators were looking into a “range of suspects.”