1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

The 1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The game was played on December 16, 1989, at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The culminating game of the 1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 37–34.[3]

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) champions, see 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team.
1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Georgia Southern Eagles
(12–1–1) (14–0)
Southland Independent
34 37
Head coach: 
Lynn Graves		 Head coach: 
Erk Russell
NCAASeed
33
NCAASeed
11
1234 Total
Stephen F. Austin 710107 34
Georgia Southern 146017 37
DateDecember 16, 1989
Season1989
StadiumPaulson Stadium
LocationStatesboro, Georgia
RefereeWally Righton[1]
Attendance25,725[1]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersBarry Tompkins (play-by-play), Stan White (color)[2]

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1989 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.[4] The location of the final, the Georgia Southern Eagles' Paulson Stadium, had been predetermined via a three-year agreement the university reached with the NCAA in February 1989.[5]

Georgia Southern Eagles
Main article: 1989 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with an 11–0 record.[6] Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and seeded first in the tournament, the Eagles defeated Villanova, Middle Tennessee State, and Montana to reach the final. This was the fourth appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having two prior wins (1985 and 1986) and one prior loss (1988).

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
See also: Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football

Stephen F. Austin finished their regular season with a 9–1–1 record (5–0–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game against Boise State.[8] Ranked third in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and seeded third in the tournament, the Lumberjacks defeated Grambling State, Southwest Missouri State, and second-seed Furman to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Stephen F. Austin in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP SFA GSC
1 10:41 6 66 2:42 GSC Raymond Gross 34-yard touchdown run, Mike Dowis kick good 0 7
1 7:58 6 45 2:20 GSC Gross fumble into end zone recovered by Terrance Sorrell for a touchdown, Dowis kick good 0 14
1 0:19 6 20 2:51 SFA Todd Hammel 1-yard touchdown run, Chuck Rawlinson kick good 7 14
2 8:50 8 83 2:56 SFA Larry Centers 12-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 14 14
2 4:27 8 52 4:23 GSC 30-yard field goal by Dowis 14 17
2 0:21 6 7 2:38 GSC 37-yard field goal by Dowis 14 20
2 0:00 1 29 0:21 SFA 53-yard field goal by Rawlinson 17 20
3 11:19 5 11 2:06 SFA 53-yard field goal by Rawlinson 20 20
3 5:27 11 79 4:34 SFA Joe Bradford 7-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 27 20
4 14:57 16 86 5:30 GSC Joe Ross 2-yard touchdown run, Dowis kick good 27 27
4 12:32 5 67 2:25 SFA Centers 46-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 34 27
4 5:58 6 51 1::32 GSC Ernest Thompson 1-yard touchdown run, Dowis kick good 34 34
4 1:41 9 27 3:17 GSC 20-yard field goal by Dowis 34 37
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 37

[1]

Game statistics
1 2 3 4 Total
Lumberjacks 7 10 10 7 34
Eagles 14 6 0 17 37
StatisticsSFAGSC
First downs1821
Plays–yards73–37781–387
Rushes–yards32–7466–274
Passing yards303113
Passing: Comp–Att–Int15–41–57–15–0
Time of possession26:5033:10
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Stephen F. AustinPassingTodd Hammel15–40, 303 yds, 3 TD, 5 INT
RushingLarry Centers22 car, 63 yds
ReceivingJoe Bradford4 rec, 102 yds, 1 TD
Georgia SouthernPassingRaymond Gross7–15, 113 yds
RushingJoe Ross31 car, 152 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingKarl Miller2 rec, 53 yds

[1]

References
  1. "NCAA Official Scoring Summary" (PDF). December 16, 1989. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via Amazon Web Services.
  2. Inman, John (December 15, 1989). "I-AA championship notebook". Longview News-Journal. Longview, Texas. p. 5-B. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. "Georgia Southern Gets Its Kicks for I-AA Title". Los Angeles Times. AP. December 17, 1989. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  4. Smith III, Willie T. (November 20, 1989). "Primed for the playoffs". The Greenville News. Greenville, South Carolina. p. 1D. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. "Georgia Southern to host NCAA title". Rocky Mount Telegram. Rocky Mount, North Carolina. AP. February 24, 1989. p. 11. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "Georgia Southern Eagles 1989 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  7. "NCAA Division I-AA final poll". The Times and Democrat. Orangeburg, South Carolina. November 20, 1989. p. 1A. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  8. "Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 1989 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved April 21, 2019.

Further reading
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