2000 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

Postseason college football game between the Montana Grizzlies and the Georgia Southern Eagles

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.

College football 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
| TSN| Seed

|

5| 3
| TSN| Seed

|

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

|
|
|
|
|

Georgia Southern | 13| 7| 0| 7 | 27
Montana | 3| 0| 6| 16 | 25
Date| December 16, 2000
Season| 2000
Stadium| Finley Stadium
Location| Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee| F. Williams[1]
Attendance| 17,156[1]
United States TV coverage
Network| ESPN
Announcers| Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color),[2] Dave Ryan (sideline)[3]
|  NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

< 1999 | 2001 >

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]

## Teams

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### Scoring summary

[edit]

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

[edit]

| 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 Statistics  | GSU  | MONT

|
|

First downs | 14 | 28
Plays–yards | 59–390 | 88–487
Rushes–yards | 51–277 | 36–211
Passing yards | 113 | 276
Passing: comp–att–int | 5–8–0 | 29–52–2
Time of possession | 27:39 | 32:21
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

|
|
|

Georgia Southern  | Passing | J. R. Revere | 5–8, 113 yds, 1 TD
Rushing | Adrian Peterson | 23 car, 148 yds, 2 TD
Receiving | Chris Johnson | 4 rec, 110 yds, 1 TD
Montana  | Passing | John Edwards | 24–42, 211 yds, 1 INT, 1 TD
Rushing | Yo Humphrey | 26 car, 119 yds, 1 TD
Receiving | Jimmy Farris | 7 rec, 82 yds

[6][7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "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". August 25, 2013. 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. ^ a b "Grizzly Summary (box score)". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana. December 17, 2000. p. C2. Retrieved February 7, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
7. ^ a b "FCS Playoff History" (PDF). Southern Conference. 2009. Retrieved February 7, 2019 - via soconsports.com.

## Further reading

[edit]

* "National Championship Rewind: 2000". gseagles.com. August 21, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
* "I-AA Top 25". The Southern Illinoisan. Carbondale, Illinois. The Sports Network. November 21, 2000. p. 2D. Retrieved February 7, 2019 - via newspapers.com.

## External links

[edit]

* 2000 I-AA National Championship - Georgia Southern vs Montana via YouTube

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