2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

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2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Georgia Southern Eagles Montana Grizzlies
(12–2)(13–1)
SoCon Big Sky
2725
Head coach: 
Paul Johnson 		Head coach: 
Joe Glenn
TSN Seed
53
TSN Seed
11
1234Total
Georgia Southern1370727
Montana3061625
DateDecember 16, 2000
Season 2000
Stadium Finley Stadium
Location Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee F. Williams [1]
Attendance17,156 [1]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
Announcers Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color), [2] Dave Ryan (sideline) [3]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
 < 1999 2001 > 

The 2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Montana Grizzlies. The game was played on December 16, 2000, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 2000 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 27–25. [4]

Contents

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2000 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket. [5]

Montana Grizzlies

Montana finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (8–0 in conference); their only loss had been to Hofstra, 10–9, in the season opener. Seeded first in the playoffs, the Grizzlies defeated 16-seed Eastern Illinois, eight-seed Richmond, and 13-seed Appalachian State to reach the final. This was the third appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1995 and having lost in 1996.

Georgia Southern Eagles

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference); one of their losses had been to Georgia of Division I-A. The Eagles, seeded third, defeated 14-seed McNeese State, 11-seed Hofstra, and second-seed Delaware to reach the final. This was the eighth appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having five prior wins (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999) and two prior losses (1988, 1998).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP GSUMONT
113:194801:41GSUGSU offense fumbled, recovered in the end zone by James McCoy, Scott Shelton kick good70
12:575602:22GSUChris Johnson 49-yard touchdown reception from J. R. Revere, 2-point run by Shelton failed (after bobbled snap on kick attempt)130
11:365231:36MONT38-yard field goal by Chris Snyder133
20:338693:01GSU Adrian Peterson 1-yard touchdown run, Shelton kick good203
33:4111793:38MONT Etu Molden 17-yard touchdown reception from John Edwards, Snyder kick no good209
414:364731:30MONTVince Huntsberger 65-yard touchdown run, Snyder kick no good (wide left)2015
411:535182:00MONTYo Humphrey 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good (Humphrey from Edwards)2023
411:291570:13GSUPeterson 57-yard touchdown run, Shelton kick good2723
40:15MONTGSU punter Shelton stepped out of end zone (safety)2725
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.2725

[6] [7] : 68 

Game statistics

1234Total
No. 3 Eagles1370727
No. 1 Grizzlies3061625
Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson Adrian N Peterson.jpg
Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson
StatisticsGSUMONT
First downs1428
Plays–yards59–39088–487
Rushes–yards51–27736–211
Passing yards113276
Passing: comp–att–int5–8–029–52–2
Time of possession27:3932:21
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Georgia SouthernPassingJ. R. Revere5–8, 113 yds, 1 TD
Rushing Adrian Peterson 23 car, 148 yds, 2 TD
ReceivingChris Johnson4 rec, 110 yds, 1 TD
MontanaPassingJohn Edwards24–42, 211 yds, 1 INT, 1 TD
RushingYo Humphrey26 car, 119 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Jimmy Farris 7 rec, 82 yds

[6] [7]

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The 1995 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Montana Grizzlies. The game was played on December 16, 1995, at Marshall University Stadium in Huntington, West Virginia. The culminating game of the 1995 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Montana, 22–20.

The 1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Arkansas State Indians and the Georgia Southern Eagles. The game was played on December 19, 1986, at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington. The culminating game of the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 48–21. Georgia Southern, the defending champion from 1985, became the first program to win consecutive Division I-AA titles.

References

  1. 1 2 "Scoring Summary (Final) Georgia Southern vs Montana" (PDF). December 16, 2000. Retrieved April 20, 2019– via AWS.
  2. ↑ Rogers, Prentis (December 16, 2000). "Div. I-AA game looking better vs. a so-so NFL slate". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . p. H2. Retrieved February 7, 2019– via newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "2000 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Montana" . Retrieved February 7, 2019– via YouTube.
  4. ↑ "Georgia Southern 27, Montana 25 (final)". Missoulian . Missoula, Montana. December 16, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Division I-AA Football Playoff Bracket". The Montana Standard . Butte, Montana. November 20, 2000. p. B4. Retrieved February 6, 2019– via newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 "Grizzly Summary (box score)". Missoulian . Missoula, Montana. December 17, 2000. p. C2. Retrieved February 7, 2019– via newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "FCS Playoff History" (PDF). Southern Conference. 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2019– via soconsports.com.

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