1999 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game, see 1999 BCS National Championship Game.

1999 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Georgia Southern Eagles Youngstown State Penguins (12–2) (12–2) SoCon Gateway 59 24 Head coach:  Paul Johnson Head coach:  Jim Tressel TSN Seed 2 2 TSN Seed 9 9
1 2 3 4 Total Georgia Southern 10 28 7 14 59 Youngstown State 7 7 3 7 24
Date	December 18, 1999
Season	1999
Stadium	Finley Stadium
Location	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee	Art Bellows (Atlantic 10) [1]
Attendance	20,052 [2]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color), Don McPherson (sideline) [1]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  < 1998 2000 >

The 1999 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Youngstown State Penguins. The game was played on December 18, 1999, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 1999 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 59–24. ^[3]

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1999 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket. ^[4]

Youngstown State Penguins

See also: 1999 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Youngstown State finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (5–1 in conference); one of their losses had been to Western Michigan of Division I-A. ^[5] Seeded ninth in the playoffs, the Penguins defeated eight-seed Montana, 16-seed North Carolina A&T, and 13-seed Florida A&M to reach the final. This was the sixth appearance for Youngstown State in a Division I-AA championship game, having won four titles (1991, 1993, 1994, and 1997) against one loss (1992).

Georgia Southern Eagles

Main article: 1999 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference); one of their losses had been to Oregon State of Division I-A. The Eagles, seeded second, defeated 15-seed Northern Arizona, 10-seed UMass, and sixth-seed Illinois State to reach the final. This was the seventh appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having four prior wins (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990) and two prior losses (1988, 1998).

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP GSU YSU 1 10:20 9 44 4:40 GSU 25-yard field goal by Chris Chambers 3 0 1 4:51 11 76 5:29 YSU Adrian Brown 2-yard touchdown run, Mark Griffith kick good 3 7 1 2:51 5 72 2:00 GSU Greg Hill 42-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 10 7 2 14:34 8 73 3:17 YSU Jeff Ryan 3-yard touchdown run, Griffith kick good 10 14 2 10:25 11 78 4:09 GSU Adrian Peterson 3-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 17 14 2 9:05 1 57 0:10 GSU Bennie Cunningham 57-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 24 14 2 5:27 2 72 0:40 GSU Peterson 22-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 31 14 2 2:09 GSU Punt returned 72 yards for touchdown by Anthony Williams, Chambers kick good 38 14 3 4:47 5 41 1:15 YSU 30-yard field goal by Griffith 38 17 3 3:05 5 66 1:42 GSU Peterson 1-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 45 17 4 9:57 10 90 4:34 GSU Mark Myers 5-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 52 17 4 7:13 2 71 1:11 GSU J. R. Revere 66-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 59 17 4 3:48 8 71 3:25 YSU Brown 1-yard touchdown run, Griffith kick good 59 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 59 24

^[6]

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Eagles	10	28	7	14	59
No. 9 Penguins	7	7	3	7	24

Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson

Statistics	GSU	YSU
First downs	24	17
Plays–yards	63–655	64–338
Rushes–yards	59–638	44–163
Passing yards	17	175
Passing: comp–att–int	1–4–0	11–20–1
Time of possession	27:47	32:13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Georgia Southern	Passing	Greg Hill	1–4, 17 yds
	Rushing	Adrian Peterson	25 car, 247 yds, 3 TD
	Receiving	Dedric Parham	1 rec, 17 yds
Youngstown State	Passing	Jeff Ryan	11–20, 175 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	Adrian Brown	22 car, 160 yds, 2 TD
	Receiving	Renauld Ray	4 rec, 90 yds

^{[2] [7]}

References

1. "1999 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Youngstown State". August 21, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2019– via YouTube.
2. "Division I-AA Championship". The News Journal . Wilmington, Delaware. December 19, 1999. p. E9. Retrieved February 16, 2019– via newspapers.com.
3. Walker, Teresa M. (December 19, 1999). "Eagles win one for the thumb". The Anniston Star . Anniston, Alabama. AP . Retrieved February 16, 2019– via newspapers.com.
4. "Playoff Results & Bracket". The Pantagraph . Bloomington, Illinois. November 28, 1999. p. F1. Retrieved February 8, 2019– via newspapers.com.
5. "Youngstown St. Penguins 1999 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
6. "NCAA I-AA Championship". GATAdb. December 20, 1999. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
7. "2009 Southern Conference Football Media Guide" (PDF). soconsports.com. p. 67. Retrieved February 16, 2019.

Further reading

• "Div. I-AA poll". Montgomery Advertiser . Montgomery, Alabama. The Sports Network. November 23, 1999. p. 2B. Retrieved February 16, 2019– via newspapers.com.

External links

• 1999 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Youngstown State via YouTube
• Adrian Peterson Georgia Southern "The Run" Compaq Play of the Week via YouTube