1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) champions, see 1981 Clemson Tigers football team.

College football game

1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

I-AA National Championship Game
Pioneer Bowl
| Eastern Kentucky Colonels | Idaho State Bengals

|

(12–1) | (11–1)
Ohio Valley | Big Sky
23 | 34
Head coach:
Roy Kidd | Head coach:
Dave Kragthorpe
| NCAA| Seed

|

1| 1
| NCAA| Seed

|

2| 2
|  | 1| 2| 3| 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Eastern Kentucky | 3| 6| 7| 7 | 23
Idaho State | 7| 21| 0| 6 | 34
Date| December 19, 1981
Season| 1981
Stadium| Memorial Stadium
Location| Wichita Falls, Texas
Attendance| 11,002[1]
United States TV coverage
Network| ABC Sports
Announcers| Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)[2]
|  NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

< 1980 | 1982 >

The 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Idaho State Bengals. The game was played on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The culminating game of the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Idaho State, 34–23.[3]

The game was also known as the Pioneer Bowl,[4] a name that had been used starting in 1971 for various NCAA playoff games held in Wichita Falls. The Colonels were making their third consecutive appearance in the I-AA championship game.

## Teams

[edit]

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1981 I-AA Playoffs, which began with an eight-team bracket.[5]

### Eastern Kentucky Colonels

[edit]

See also: Eastern Kentucky Colonels football

Eastern Kentucky finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (8–0 in conference); their only loss was to Navy of Division I-A.[6] Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and seeded first in the tournament, the Colonels defeated seventh-seed Delaware and fourth-seed Boise State to reach the final. This was the third appearance for Eastern Kentucky in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1979 and having lost in 1980.

### Idaho State Bengals

[edit]

Main article: 1981 Idaho State Bengals football team

Idaho State finished their regular season with a 9–1 record (6–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game at Montana.[8] Ranked second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and seeded second in the tournament, the Bengals defeated eighth-seed Rhode Island and third-seed South Carolina State to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Idaho State in a Division I-AA championship game.

## Game summary

[edit]

### Scoring summary

[edit]

Scoring summary

| Quarter  | Time  | Drive | Team  | Scoring information  | Score

|
|
|
|
|

Plays | Yards  | TOP | EKU  | ISU
1  |  |  |  |  | EKU  | 21-yard field goal by Jamie Lovett  | 3  | 0
1  | 3:07  |  | 80  |  | ISU  | Chris Corp 17-yard touchdown reception from Mike Machurek, Case deBruijn kick good  | 3  | 7
2  |  |  |  |  | EKU  | Ed Hairston 3-yard touchdown run, Lovett kick failed  | 9  | 7
2  |  | 6  | 52  |  | ISU  | Dwain Wilson 6-yard touchdown run, deBruijn kick good  | 9  | 14
2  |  |  | 80  |  | ISU  | Chris Ewing 9-yard touchdown reception from Machurek, deBruijn kick good  | 9  | 21
2  | 2:52  |  | 38  |  | ISU  | Wilson 6-yard touchdown run, deBruijn kick good  | 9  | 28
3  | 5:17  |  | 71  |  | EKU  | Nicky Yeast 2-yard touchdown run, Lovett kick good  | 16  | 28
4  | 14:__  |  | 74  |  | ISU  | Paul Fite 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point run failed  | 16  | 34
4  | 8:13  |  |  |  | EKU  | Yeast 4-yard touchdown run, Lovett kick good  | 23  | 34
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 23  | 34

[1][9][10]

### Game statistics

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Colonels  | 3  | 6  | 7  | 7 | 23
Bengals | 7  | 21  | 0  | 6 | 34
Memorial Stadium, site of the 1981 I-AA title game Statistics  | EKU  | ISU

|
|

First downs | 19 | 24
Plays–yards | 75–386 | 77–482
Rushes–yards | 47–167 | 31–102
Passing yards | 219 | 380
Passing: comp–att–int | 14–28–1 | 31–46–0
Time of possession |  |
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

|
|
|

Eastern Kentucky  | Passing | Chris Isaac | 14–28, 219 yds, 1 INT
Rushing | Nicky Yeast | 10 car, 58 yds
Receiving | Steve Bird | 5 rec, 81 yds
Idaho State  | Passing | Mike Machurek | 29–44, 380 yds, 2 TD
Rushing | Dwain Wilson | 12 car, 58 yds, 2 TD
Receiving | Jerry Bird | 9 rec, 139 yds

[1][11]

## See also

[edit]

* 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Stroop, Joe (December 20, 1981). "Idaho State wins I-AA football title". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. AP. p. D11. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
2. ^ "Highlights from the 1981 1-AA National Championship Team
the ISU Bengals". February 24, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via YouTube.
3. ^ "Idaho State Takes Title, 34-23". The New York Times. AP. December 20, 1981. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via nytimes.com.
4. ^ "Pioneer Bowl Comeback Today". Rutland Daily Herald. Rutland, Vermont. December 19, 1981. p. 24. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
5. ^ Cooper, Barry (May 1, 1981). "MEAC gets berth in I-AA football playoffs". Tallahassee Democrat. p. 23. Retrieved February 9, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1981 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
7. ^ a b "NCAA Division I-AA". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. AP. November 25, 1981. p. B2. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Idaho State Bengals 1981 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
9. ^ Sutton, Stan (December 20, 1981). "Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C 1. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
10. ^ Sutton, Stan (December 20, 1981). "Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game (cont'd)". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. C 4. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
11. ^ "Pioneer Bowl". El Paso Times. El Paso, Texas. December 20, 1981. p. 8C. Retrieved May 11, 2019 - via newspapers.com.

## Further reading

[edit]

* "1981 National Champions". isubengals.com. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
* Glorfield, Chase (September 29, 2011). "Remembering the 1981 National Championship". Idaho State Journal. Pocatello, Idaho. Retrieved May 11, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* Highlights from the 1981 1-AA National Championship Team—the ISU Bengals via YouTube
* EKU vs Idaho State - 1981 Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 via YouTube

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