2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game
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]
2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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I-AA National Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | December 16, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Season | 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Finley Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Chattanooga, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||||
Referee | F. Williams[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 17,156[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
Network | ESPN | ||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color),[2] Dave Ryan (sideline)[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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 an 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Game statistics
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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No. 3 Eagles | 13 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 27 |
No. 1 Grizzlies | 3 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 25 |
Statistics | GSU | MONT |
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First downs | 14 | 28 |
Plays–yards | 59–390 | 88–487 |
Rushes–yards | 51–277 | 36–211 |
Passing yards | 113 | 276 |
Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 5–8–0 | 29–52–2 |
Time of possession | 27:39 | 32:21 |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
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Georgia Southern | Passing | J. R. Revere | 5–8, 113 yds, 1 TD |
Rushing | Adrian Peterson | 23 car, 148 yds, 2 TD | |
Receiving | Chris Johnson | 4 rec, 110 yds, 1 TD | |
Montana | Passing | John Edwards | 24–42, 211 yds, 1 INT, 1 TD |
Rushing | Yo Humphrey | 26 car, 119 yds, 1 TD | |
Receiving | Jimmy Farris | 7 rec, 82 yds |
References
- "Scoring Summary (Final) Georgia Southern vs Montana" (PDF). December 16, 2000. Retrieved April 20, 2019 – via AWS.
- 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.
- "2000 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Montana". Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via YouTube.
- "Georgia Southern 27, Montana 25 (final)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. December 16, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- "Division I-AA Football Playoff Bracket". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. November 20, 2000. p. B4. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- "Grizzly Summary (box score)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. December 17, 2000. p. C2. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- "FCS Playoff History" (PDF). Southern Conference. 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via soconsports.com.
Further reading
- "National Championship Rewind: 2000". gseagles.com. August 21, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- "I-AA Top 25". The Southern Illinoisan. Carbondale, Illinois. The Sports Network. November 21, 2000. p. 2D. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.