The 2001 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

Montana Grizzlies The Montana Grizzlies and Lady Griz are the nicknames given to the athletic teams of the University of Montana, located in Missoula, Montana, Missoula. The university is a member of the Big Sky Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fieldin ...

and the

Furman Paladins The Furman Paladins are the varsity athletic teams representing Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, in intercollegiate athletics. Furman competes in NCAA Division I athletics and is one of the smallest NCAA Division I schools in the ...

. The game was played on December 21, 2001, at

Finley Stadium W. Max Finley Stadium is the home stadium for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga American football, football team and Chattanooga FC (National Independent Soccer Association, NISA), a professional Division 3 soccer team. The stadium also ...

, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the

2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I-AA level, began in August 2001, and concluded with the 2001 NCAA Divisi ...

, it was won by Montana, 13–6.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2001 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team

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. In a change from recent postseasons, the NCAA seeded only the top four seeds, while placing other teams in the bracket based on geographical considerations in order to minimize travel.

Montana Grizzlies

Montana finished their regular season with an 11–1 record (7–0 in conference); their only loss was to

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of Division I-A. Seeded first in the playoffs, the Grizzlies defeated

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

Sam Houston State Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

, and

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

to reach the final. This was the fourth appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1995, and having lost in 1996 and 2000.

Furman Paladins

Furman finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference); one of their losses was to

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

of Division I-A. The Paladins, seeded third, defeated

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Lehigh Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas *Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida *Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Penns ...

, and second-seed

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

to reach the final. This was the third appearance for Furman in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1988 and having lost in 1985.

Game summary

Scoring summary

When there is no time left on the clock at the end of the fourth quarter, NCAA rules only allow for a

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attempt if it could affect the outcome of the game.

Game statistics

References

External links

#23 - Montana Wins the 2001 National Championship , Big Sky 50 Greatest Moments
via

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{{2001–02 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 Furman Paladins football games Montana Grizzlies football games College football in Tennessee American football competitions in Chattanooga, Tennessee NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game