The 2014 NCAA Division I 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

North Dakota State Bison The North Dakota State Bison are the athletic teams of North Dakota State University (NDSU), which is located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The teams are often called the "Thundering Herd". The current logo is a bison. Sports sponsored ...

and the

Towson Tigers The Towson Tigers, formerly the ''Towson College Knights'', are the athletics teams of Towson University. All of the major athletic teams compete in the Colonial Athletic Association with 19 Division I athletic teams (13 in women's sports, 6 in ...

. It was played on January 4, 2014, at Toyota Stadium in

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. The culminating game of the

2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The season began o ...

, it was won by North Dakota State, 35–7. With sponsorship by

Northwestern Mutual Northwestern Mutual is an American financial services mutual organization based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The financial security company provides consultation on wealth and asset income protection, education planning, retirement planning, investme ...

, the game was officially known as the NCAA FCS Championship presented by Northwestern Mutual. This was the third consecutive championship for North Dakota State.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2013 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 24-team

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. This was the first tournament with 24 teams in the field; it had been 20 teams for the prior three postseasons.

North Dakota State Bison

North Dakota State finished their regular season with an 11–0 record (8–0 in conference), including a season-opening win over

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

of the FBS. As the first-seed in the tournament, the Bison defeated Furman,

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

, and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

to reach the final. This was North Dakota State's third appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA title game, having won the prior two title games. This was the final game for

Craig Bohl Craig Philip Bohl (born July 27, 1958) is an American college football coach and former player, currently the head football coach at the University of Wyoming. He was previously the head coach at North Dakota State University in Fargo from 2003 ...

as head coach of the Bison, as he had accepted on offer to take the same role with

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 ...

Towson Tigers

Towson finished their regular season with a 10–2 record (6–2 in conference), including a season-opening win over

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

of the FBS. As the seventh-seed in the tournament, the Tigers defeated Fordham, second-seed

Eastern Illinois Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

, and third-seed

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

to reach the final. This was Towson's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

The teams traded

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Bison returned a blocked

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

59 yards, then scored on the next play to go ahead, 14–7. The Tigers were held scoreless for the remainder of the game, as the Bison won by a 35–7 final score. The Bison became the second team in FCS/Division I-AA history to win three consecutive titles, joining

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

(2005–2007).

Scoring summary

Game statistics

Terrance West 2014 Browns training camp (3)

References

External links

Box score
at

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2013 FCS National Championship: North Dakota State vs Towson
via

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{{2013–14 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 North Dakota State Bison football games Towson Tigers football games American football in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Sports in Frisco, Texas NCAA Division I FCS Football Championship Game NCAA Division I FCS Football Championship Game