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]

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game, see 2000 BCS National Championship Game.
2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Georgia Southern Eagles Montana Grizzlies
(12–2) (13–1)
SoCon Big Sky
27 25
Head coach: 
Paul Johnson		 Head coach: 
Joe Glenn
TSNSeed
53
TSNSeed
11
1234 Total
Georgia Southern 13707 27
Montana 30616 25
DateDecember 16, 2000
Season2000
StadiumFinley Stadium
LocationChattanooga, Tennessee
RefereeF. Williams[1]
Attendance17,156[1]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN
AnnouncersRich 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
Main article: 2000 Montana Grizzlies football team

Montana finished their regular season with a 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
Main article: 2000 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 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
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP GSU MONT
1 13:19 4 80 1:41 GSU GSU offense fumbled, recovered in the end zone by James McCoy, Scott Shelton kick good 7 0
1 2:57 5 60 2:22 GSU Chris Johnson 49-yard touchdown reception from J. R. Revere, 2-point run by Shelton failed (after bobbled snap on kick attempt) 13 0
1 1:36 5 23 1:36 MONT 38-yard field goal by Chris Snyder 13 3
2 0:33 8 69 3:01 GSU Adrian Peterson 1-yard touchdown run, Shelton kick good 20 3
3 3:41 11 79 3:38 MONT Etu Molden 17-yard touchdown reception from John Edwards, Snyder kick no good 20 9
4 14:36 4 73 1:30 MONT Vince Huntsberger 65-yard touchdown run, Snyder kick no good (wide left) 20 15
4 11:53 5 18 2:00 MONT Yo Humphrey 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass good (Humphrey from Edwards) 20 23
4 11:29 1 57 0:13 GSU Peterson 57-yard touchdown run, Shelton kick good 27 23
4 0:15 MONT GSU punter Shelton stepped out of end zone (safety) 27 25
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 27 25

[6][7]:68

Game statistics
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 3 Eagles 13 7 0 7 27
No. 1 Grizzlies 3 0 6 16 25
Georgia Southern running back Adrian Peterson
StatisticsGSUMONT
First downs1428
Plays–yards59–39088–487
Rushes–yards51–27736–211
Passing yards113276
Passing: Comp–Att–Int5–8–029–52–2
Time of possession27:3932:21
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Georgia SouthernPassingJ. R. Revere5–8, 113 yds, 1 TD
RushingAdrian Peterson23 car, 148 yds, 2 TD
ReceivingChris Johnson4 rec, 110 yds, 1 TD
MontanaPassingJohn Edwards24–42, 211 yds, 1 INT, 1 TD
RushingYo Humphrey26 car, 119 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingJimmy Farris7 rec, 82 yds

[6][7]

References
  1. "Scoring Summary (Final) Georgia Southern vs Montana" (PDF). December 16, 2000. Retrieved April 20, 2019 – via AWS.
  2. 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.
  3. "2000 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Montana". Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via YouTube.
  4. "Georgia Southern 27, Montana 25 (final)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. December 16, 2000. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
  5. "Division I-AA Football Playoff Bracket". The Montana Standard. Butte, Montana. November 20, 2000. p. B4. Retrieved February 6, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. "Grizzly Summary (box score)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. December 17, 2000. p. C2. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  7. "FCS Playoff History" (PDF). Southern Conference. 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2019 – via soconsports.com.

Further reading
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