The usually rowdy University of Georgia and Notre Dame fans fell silent for a few seconds on Thursday before the Sugar Bowl kicked off in New Orleans, paying their respects to the victims of an attack a day earlier that left 14 dead and dozens injured in the heart of the city.
The Sugar Bowl, a college football playoff quarterfinal, was delayed by a day after a 42-year-old man driving a pickup barreled through crowds of people on Bourbon Street early on New Year’s Day.
As fans swarmed to the Superdome — a stadium that is as much a cultural touchstone to Louisianans as it is a sports venue — a helicopter circled overhead and heavily armed officers stood by. The scene was a stark contrast to the mood of the fans, who displayed all the usual revelry: full cups of beer, jerseys and shouts of support.
Some had arrived early, worried about long security lines because of the attack. But the crowd moved swiftly through metal detectors and into the arena in the hours before the game. Security staff members checked purses and other bags but did not require attendees to empty their pockets as they sometimes do at other sporting events.
Otis Brumby, who was attending the game on Thursday, his 44th birthday, said he was being vigilant, but added that he thought it was important to keep living as normal.
“You’ve just got to be smart and keep moving forward,” Mr. Brumby said. “It’s tragic what happened here, but you can’t let that ruin your life.”
At kickoff, the stadium was plenty loud but there were several pockets of empty seats, particularly in the upper decks, where some rows were almost entirely vacant.
Ticket prices had fallen significantly on the resale market after the game was postponed, as people who could no longer attend scrambled to unload their tickets.
But the fans who stuck around said they were not worried about the possibility of another attack. Earlier on Thursday the F.B.I. revised its assessment and said that the attacker had acted alone and did not, as investigators had previously suspected, work with anyone else.
If the game had taken place on New Year’s Day as it often had, it would have been 44 years to the day since Georgia bested Notre Dame in the 1981 Sugar Bowl. Mr. Brumby said on Thursday that he hoped he and another friend visiting from Atlanta, Rob Harper, would be able to witness a similar result.
Ciara Donaher and Daniel Okoye, a couple rooting for Notre Dame, also said they were not afraid after the attack in the French Quarter.
“I feel safe,” Mr. Okoye said. “I feel like it only gets safer after something like that happens.”
Ms. Donaher, from North Carolina, said she did not think of missing the game. After all, she said, her sister is dating one of the Notre Dame players, and Mr. Okoye was sporting his jersey.
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