The 1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

game between the

Georgia Southern Eagles The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joi ...

and the

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks are composed of 16 teams representing Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in intercollegiate athletics. Stephen F. Austin teams participate in the Division I as a member of the Western Athle ...

. The game was played on December 16, 1989, at

Paulson Stadium Allen E. Paulson Stadium is a 25,000-seat on-campus football stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. It is home to the Georgia Southern Eagles football team and the focal point of Erk Russell Athletic Park. Paulson Stadium was dedicated on September 29, ...

Statesboro, Georgia Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, Bulloch County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern ...

. The culminating game of the

1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1989, and concluded with the 1989 NCAA Division I-AA ...

, it was won by Georgia Southern, 37–34.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1989 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team

bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

. The location of the final, the

, had been predetermined via a three-year agreement the university reached with the NCAA in February 1989.

Georgia Southern Eagles

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with an 11–0 record. Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll and seeded first in the tournament, the Eagles defeated Villanova,

Middle Tennessee State Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight Undergraduate education, undergraduate colleges as well as a college of Postgr ...

, and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

to reach the final. This was the fourth appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having two prior wins (1985 and 1986) and one prior loss (1988).

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks

Stephen F. Austin finished their regular season with a 9–1–1 record (5–0–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game against

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

. Ranked third in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll and seeded third in the tournament, the Lumberjacks defeated

Grambling State Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage ...

Southwest Missouri State Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

, and second-seed Furman to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Stephen F. Austin in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Game statistics

References

External links

1989 I-AA National Championship - Stephen F. Austin vs Georgia Southern
via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

{{1989–90 NCAA Division I championships navbox

Championship Game In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

NCAA Division I Football Championship Games Georgia Southern Eagles football games Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football games American football in Georgia (U.S. state) Sports competitions in Georgia (U.S. state) NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game