1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

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]

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game, see 1998 Orange Bowl.
1998 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Georgia Southern Eagles UMass Minutemen
(14–0) (11–3)
SoCon Atlantic 10
43 55
Head coach: 
Paul Johnson		 Head coach: 
Mark Whipple
TSNSeed
11
TSNSeed
1211
1234 Total
Georgia Southern 7141210 43
UMass 2117017 55
DateDecember 19, 1998
Season1998
StadiumFinley Stadium
LocationChattanooga, Tennessee
RefereeJohn W. Keys (Big Sky)[1]
Attendance17,501[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN

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
Main article: 1998 UMass Minutemen football team

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
Main article: 1998 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

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
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP GSU UM
1 12:56 7 67 2:04 UM Marcel Shipp 25-yard touchdown run, Jason Cherry kick good 0 7
1 8:29 UM Fumble recovery returned 9 yards for touchdown by Kole Ayi, Cherry kick good 0 14
1 7:25 2 48 1:08 GSU Greg Hill 40-yard touchdown run, Chris Chambers kick good 7 14
1 5:04 1 7 0:07 UM Adrian Zullo 7-yard touchdown reception from Jamie Holston, Cherry kick good 7 21
2 14:46 11 63 3:34 UM 22-yard field goal by Cherry 7 24
2 10:54 6 36 2:11 GSU Corey Joyner 6-yard touchdown reception from Greg Hill, Chambers kick good 14 24
2 7:17 11 64 3:37 UM Todd Bankhead 1-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good 14 31
2 4:09 5 26 1:35 UM Shipp 4-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good 14 38
2 2:01 6 55 2:08 GSU Adrian Peterson 1-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 21 38
3 8:54 13 78 6:06 GSU Peterson 5-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick no good 27 38
3 0:41 14 98 6:07 GSU Hill 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed 33 38
4 13:42 5 72 1:59 UM Kevin Quinlan 2-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good 33 45
4 11:51 5 42 1:35 UM Shipp 2-yard touchdown run, Cherry kick good 33 52
4 8:39 12 58 3:12 GSU 38-yard field goal by Chambers 36 52
4 2:21 7 13 3:04 UM 25-yard field goal by Cherry 36 55
4 1:04 8 60 1:17 GSU J. R. Revere 29-yard touchdown run, Chambers kick good 43 55
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 43 55

[2]

Game statistics
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 1 Eagles 7 14 12 10 43
No. 11 Minutemen 21 17 0 17 55
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
UMassPassingTodd Bankhead17–25, 152 yds
RushingMarcel Shipp35 car, 244 yds, 3 TD
ReceivingJimmy Moore6 rec, 63 yds

[7][2]

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References
  1. "1998 NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game" (PDF). December 19, 1998. Retrieved February 20, 2019 – via amazonaws.com.
  2. "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. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  6. "Georgia Southern Eagles 1998 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  7. "NCAA box score". umasshoops.com. Retrieved February 20, 2019.

Further reading
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