How Georgia and Notre Dame handled tragedy, uncertainty and then a football game over 36 hours in New Orleans

Notre Dame coach Pete Bevacqua : "It turned out that it happened just a few blocks from us" Georgia and Notre Dame players were effectively under lockdown at their team hotels through the early part of the day .

Sugar Bowl CEO Jeff Hundley : "I realized pretty quickly the scope of the scene" SEC commissioner Greg Sankey : "You see the coroner's wagon," Sankey said.

Sugar Bowl officials had to work to ensure there were enough hotel rooms for the teams for an extra night , beef up security, adjust the Superdome 's event schedule.

The initial plan was to move the game back 24 hours and kick off in a prime-time TV window Thursday .

Notre Dame team chaplain Rev. Nathan D. Wills held a team prayer service that afternoon .

Around the Superdome, Bourbon Street had reopened to foot traffic.

More than 57,000 fans came through the gates -- about 80% of what had been expected.

Coach Smart dismisses any notion that tragic events had any impact on how his team performed.

"This team was focused and ready to go play. Notre Dame played well. We didn't play great," Smart says.