The 2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason

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game between the Richmond Spiders and 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 ...

. It was played on December 19, 2008, 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

2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2008 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began on August 28, 2008, and concluded on December 19, 2008, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the 2008 NC ...

, it was won by Richmond, 24–7.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2008 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 16-team

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Richmond Spiders

Richmond finished their regular season with a 9–3 record (6–2 in conference), after starting their season 4–3 through their first seven games. The Spiders defeated

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, second-seeded

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 ...

, and third-seeded

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 Richmond's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.

Montana Grizzlies

Montana finished their regular season with an 11–1 record (7–1 in conference). As the fourth-seed in the tournament, the Grizzlies defeated Texas State, Weber State (who had given Montana their only defeat during the regular season), and top-seeded

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to reach the final. This was Montana's sixth appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game, having previously won in 1995 and 2001, and having lost in 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Game statistics

References

External links

Box score
at

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{{2008–09 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 Montana Grizzlies football games Richmond Spiders football games College football in Tennessee American football competitions in Chattanooga, Tennessee NCAA Division I Football Championship Game NCAA Division I Football Championship Game