1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

Last updated

1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Georgia Southern Eagles UMass Minutemen
(14–0)(11–3)
SoCon Atlantic 10
4355
Head coach: 
Paul Johnson 		Head coach: 
Mark Whipple
TSN Seed
11
TSN Seed
1211
1234Total
Georgia Southern714121043
UMass211701755
DateDecember 19, 1998
Season 1998
Stadium Finley Stadium
Location Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee John W. Keys (Big Sky) [1]
Attendance17,501 [2]
United States TV coverage
Network ESPN
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
 < 1997 1999 > 

The 1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the UMass Minutemen. The game was played on December 19, 1998, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 1998 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by UMass, 55–43. [3]

Contents

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1998 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket. [4]

UMass Minutemen

UMass finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (6–2 in conference); two of their losses had been to rival Connecticut, [5] with one considered a non-conference game. Seeded 11th in the playoffs, the Minutemen defeated sixth-seed McNeese State, 14-seed Lehigh, and second-seed Northwestern State to reach the final. This was the second appearance for UMass in a Division I-AA championship game, having lost to Florida A&M in the 1978 inaugural title game.

Georgia Southern Eagles

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with an 11–0 record (8–0 in conference). [6] The Eagles, seeded first, defeated 16-seed Colgate, eighth-seed Connecticut, and fourth-seed Western Illinois to reach the final. This was the sixth appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having four prior wins (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990) and one prior loss (1988).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary
QuarterTime Drive TeamScoring informationScore
Plays Yards TOP GSUUM
112:567672:04UM Marcel Shipp 25-yard touchdown run, Jason Cherry kick good07
18:29UMFumble recovery returned 9 yards for touchdown by Kole Ayi, Cherry kick good014
17:252481:08GSUGreg Hill 40-yard touchdown run, Chris Chambers kick good714
15:04170:07UMAdrian Zullo 7-yard touchdown reception from Jamie Holston, Cherry kick good721
214:4611633:34UM22-yard field goal by Cherry724
210:546362:11GSUCorey Joyner 6-yard touchdown reception from Greg Hill, Chambers kick good1424
27:1711643:37UM Todd Bankhead 1-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good1431
24:095261:35UMShipp 4-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good1438
22:016552:08GSU Adrian Peterson 1-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good2138
38:5413786:06GSUPeterson 5-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick no good2738
30:4114986:07GSUHill 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed3338
413:425721:59UMKevin Quinlan 2-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good3345
411:515421:35UMShipp 2-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good3352
48:3912583:12GSU38-yard field goal by Chambers3652
42:217133:04UM25-yard field goal by Cherry3655
41:048601:17GSUJ. R. Revere 29-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good4355
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.4355

[2]

Game statistics

1234Total
No. 1 Eagles714121043
No. 11 Minutemen211701755
Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson Adrian N Peterson.jpg
Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson
StatisticsGSUUM
First downs2623
Plays–yards86–59577–462
Rushes–yards65–45751–303
Passing yards138159
Passing: comp–att–int10–21–118–26–0
Time of possession30:4829:12
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Georgia SouthernPassingGreg Hill8–16, 111 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
RushingGreg Hill29 car, 228 yds, 2 TD
ReceivingCorey Joyner6 rec, 94 yds, 1 TD
UMassPassing Todd Bankhead 17–25, 152 yds
Rushing Marcel Shipp 35 car, 244 yds, 3 TD
ReceivingJimmy Moore6 rec, 63 yds

[7] [2]

References

  1. ↑ "1998 NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game" (PDF). December 19, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2019– via amazonaws.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "NCAA I-AA Championship". GATAdb. December 19, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  3. ↑ "UMass Wins I-AA Championship". CBS News . December 19, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Division I-AA playoffs". Missoulian . Missoula, Montana. November 23, 1998. p. D5. Retrieved February 8, 2019– via newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "UMass Minutemen 1998 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Georgia Southern Eagles 1998 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  7. ↑ "NCAA box score". umasshoops.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.

Further reading

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