2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

The 2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Richmond Spiders and the Montana Grizzlies. It was played on December 19, 2008, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season, it was won by Richmond, 24–7.

This article is about the FCS (Division I-AA) championship game. For the FBS (Division I-A) championship game, see 2008 BCS National Championship Game.
2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship
FCS National Championship Game
Montana Grizzlies Richmond Spiders
(14–1) (12–3)
Big Sky CAA
7 24
Head coach: 
Bobby Hauck		 Head coach: 
Mike London
TSNSeed
54
TSNSeed
7—
1234 Total
Montana 0007 7
Richmond 71403 24
DateDecember 19, 2008
Season2008
StadiumFinley Stadium
LocationChattanooga, Tennessee
FavoriteRichmond by 1.5[1]
RefereeCooper Castleberry (Southland)[2]
Attendance17,823[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2[3]

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2008 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.

Richmond Spiders
Main article: 2008 Richmond Spiders football team

Richmond finished their regular season with a 9–3 record (6–2 in conference), after starting their season 4–3 through their first seven games. The Spiders defeated Eastern Kentucky, second-seeded Appalachian State, and third-seeded Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was Richmond's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.

Montana Grizzlies
Main article: 2008 Montana Grizzlies football team

Montana finished their regular season with an 11–1 record (7–1 in conference). As the fourth-seed in the tournament, the Grizzlies defeated Texas State, Weber State (who had given Montana their only defeat during the regular season), and top-seeded James Madison to reach the final. This was Montana's sixth appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game, having previously won in 1995 and 2001, and having lost in 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Game summary

Scoring summary
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP MONT RICH
1 9:02 11 66 5:58 RICH Eric Ward 23-yard touchdown reception from John Crone, Andrew Howard kick good 0 7
2 11:29 3 34 1:14 RICH Josh Vaughan 5-yard touchdown run, Howard kick good 0 14
2 2:13 12 75 6:52 RICH Garrett Wilkins 13-yard touchdown reception from Ward, Howard kick good 0 21
4 11:56 13 69 4:28 MONT Chase Reynolds 4-yard touchdown run, Brody McKnight kick good 7 21
4 6:54 4 -1 1:32 RICH 39-yard field goal by Brian Radford 7 24
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 24

[4]

Game statistics
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 4 Grizzlies 0 0 0 7 7
Spiders 7 14 0 3 24
Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist
StatisticsMONTRICH
First downs1516
Plays–yards63–30658–327
Rushes–yards25–3939–208
Passing yards267119
Passing: Comp–Att–Int19–38–113–19–0
Time of possession28:5931:01
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
MontanaPassingCole Bergquist19–36, 267 yds, 1 INT
RushingChase Reynolds12 car, 47 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingMarc Mariani7 rec, 172 yds
RichmondPassingEric Ward12–18, 96 yds, 1 TD
RushingJosh Vaughan23 car, 162 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingTre Gray6 rec, 44 yds

[5][6]

References
  1. "Richmond Spiders @ Montana Grizzlies". vegasinsider.com. December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  2. "Montana vs Richmond". caasports.com. December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  3. "On The Air". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. December 19, 2008. p. D2. Retrieved January 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. "Montana vs. Richmond - Play-By-Play". ESPN. December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  5. "Montana vs. Richmond - Game Summary". ESPN. December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  6. "Richmond vs. Montana (box score)". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. December 20, 2008. p. 20. Retrieved January 7, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

Further reading
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