The 2003 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athl ...

and the

Colgate Raiders The Colgate Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Colgate University. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, track and field and tennis. Men's sports include ...

. The game was played on December 19, 2003, at

Finley Stadium W. Max Finley Stadium is the home stadium for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team and Chattanooga FC ( NISA), a professional Division 3 soccer team. The stadium also hosts various high school sports and musical concerts. It ...

, home field of the

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

. The culminating game of the

2003 NCAA Division I-AA football season The 2003 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 2003, and concluded with the 2003 NCAA Division I-AA ...

, it was won by Delaware, 40–0.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2003 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.

Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens

Delaware finished their regular season with an 11–1 record (8–1 in conference). Their only loss was to

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

, while one of their wins was over

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

of Division I-A. The Fightin' Blue Hens, seeded second in the tournament, defeated

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of the Upland South than the Mi ...

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 ...

, and third-seed Wofford to reach the final. This was the second appearance for Delaware in a Division I-AA championship game, having lost in 1982.

Colgate Raiders

Colgate finished their regular season with a 12–0 record (7–0 in conference). The Raiders, seeded fourth in the tournament, defeated UMass, Western Illinois, and Florida Atlantic to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Colgate in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Game statistics

References

External links

Colgate Delaware Football 2003 1st Half 1AA Championship
via

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Colgate Delaware Football 2003 2nd Half 1AA Championship
via YouTube {{2003–04 NCAA Division I championships navbox

Championship Game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, 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 sy ...

NCAA Division I Football Championship Games Colgate Raiders football games Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 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