1984 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 1984 BYU Cougars football team.

College football game

1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

I-AA National Championship Game
| Louisiana Tech Bulldogs | Montana State Bobcats

|

(10–4) | (11–2)
Southland | Big Sky
6 | 19
Head coach:
A. L. Williams | Head coach:
Dave Arnold
| NCAA| Seed

|

9| –
| NCAA| Seed

|

2 (tie)| 3
|  | 1| 2| 3| 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Louisiana Tech | 0| 0| 0| 6 | 6
Montana State | 9| 10| 0| 0 | 19
Date| December 15, 1984
Season| 1984
Stadium| Johnson Hagood Stadium
Location| Charleston, South Carolina
Referee| Courtney Mauzy (ACC)[1]
Attendance| 9,125[2]
United States TV coverage
Network| Satellite Program Network[3]
Announcers| Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Steve Davis (color)[1]
|  NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

< 1983 | 1985 >

The 1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Montana State Bobcats and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The game was played on December 15, 1984, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The culminating game of the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Montana State, 19–6.[2]

The championship game was televised on the Satellite Program Network (SPN),[3] as the NCAA paid SPN to broadcast some playoff contests following a Supreme Court ruling (NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma) that halted the NCAA's practice of negotiating television contracts for its members.[4]

## Teams

[edit]

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1984 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 12-team bracket.[5]

### Montana State Bobcats

[edit]

Main article: 1984 Montana State Bobcats football team

Montana State finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference); two wins came over Division II opponents (Mesa State and Portland State) and one win came over a Division I-A program (Fresno State).[6] Tied for second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and seeded third in the tournament, the Bobcats received a first-round bye then defeated Arkansas State and second-seed Rhode Island to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Montana State in a Division I-AA championship game.

### Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

[edit]

Main article: 1984 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

Louisiana Tech finished their regular season with a 7–4 record (5–1 in conference); three of their losses were to Division I-A programs (Southwestern Louisiana, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss).[8] Ranked ninth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[7] and unseeded in the tournament, the Bulldogs defeated Mississippi Valley State, top-seed Alcorn State, and Middle Tennessee State to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Louisiana Tech 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 | La. Tech  | MSU
1  | 11:59  | 6  | 15  | 1:01  | MSU  | 33-yard field goal by Mark Carter  | 0  | 3
1  |  | 4  | 31  | 0:41  | MSU  | Joe Bignell 17-yard touchdown reception from Kelly Bradley, Carter kick no good (wide left)  | 0  | 9
2  | 4:54  | 5  | 80  | 2:10  | MSU  | Bignell 33-yard touchdown reception from Bradley, Carter kick good  | 0  | 16
2  | 0:06  |  |  |  | MSU  | 48-yard field goal by Carter  | 0  | 19
4  | 0:48  |  |  |  | La. Tech  | Michael Sherman 10-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Gandy, 2-point pass incomplete  | 6  | 19
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 6  | 19

[9][1]

### Game statistics

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Bulldogs  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 6 | 6
Bobcats | 9  | 10  | 0  | 0 | 19
Johnson Hagood Stadium, site of the 1984 Division I-AA championship game Statistics  | La. Tech  | MSU

|
|

First downs | 19 | 20
Plays–yards | 74–262 | 82–340
Rushes–yards | 36–(-25) | 25–6
Passing yards | 287 | 334
Passing: comp–att–int | 24–38–4 | 32–57–1
Time of possession | 29:51 | 30:08
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

|
|
|

Louisiana Tech  | Passing | Kyle Gandy | 24–38, 287 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT
Rushing | Gerry Jones | 4 car, 16 yds
Receiving | Michael Sherman | 4 rec, 77 yds, 1 TD
Montana State  | Passing | Kelly Bradley | 32–57, 334 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing | Jesse Jones | 4 car, 13 yds
Receiving | Joe Bignell | 10 rec, 130 yds, 2 TD

[9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "1984 I-AA National Championship". October 16, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2019 - via YouTube.
2. ^ a b Smith, Bruce M. (December 16, 1984). "Montana State wins I-AA title". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. AP. p. D3. Retrieved May 5, 2018 - via newspapers.com.
3. ^ a b Geise, George (December 15, 1984). "Bobcats ready for I-AA championship shootout". Great Falls Tribune. Great Falls, Montana. p. 1-B. Retrieved May 5, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
4. ^ Nance, Roscoe (December 1, 1984). "I-AA playoffs spell trouble M-O-N-E-Y". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 2D. Retrieved April 22, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
5. ^ "ISU gets first round bye". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. AP. November 19, 1984. p. A7. Retrieved May 5, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
6. ^ "Montana State Bobcats 1984 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
7. ^ a b "NCAA Division I-AA Final Poll". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. November 19, 1984. p. D2. Retrieved May 5, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
8. ^ "Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 1984 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
9. ^ a b "NCAA Div. I-AA Playoffs". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. December 16, 1984. p. B4. Retrieved May 6, 2019 - via newspapers.com.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Rachac, Greg (September 24, 2014). "1984 revisited: Bobcats set to commemorate championship season". Billings Gazette. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
* "1984 Tech Team to be Honored at Halftime". latechsports.com. September 30, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2019.

## External links

[edit]

* 1984 I-AA National Championship via YouTube

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† Inaugural championship – ‡ Inaugural co-ed championship
*[comp]: Completions
*[att]: Attempts
*[int]: Interceptions
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