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The 1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Lehigh Engineers (now the Lehigh Mountain Hawks). The game was played on December 15, 1979, at Orlando Stadium (now Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. The culminating game of the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Eastern Kentucky, 30–7.[3]
| 1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
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| I-AA National Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 15, 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1979 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orlando Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Orlando, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 5,200[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC Sports | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1979 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a four-team bracket.[4]
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
Eastern Kentucky finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (5–1 in conference); their losses were to East Tennessee State of Division I-A and conference rival Murray State.[5] Tied for third with Lehigh in the final AP Poll for I-AA,[6] the Colonels were the at-large selection to the four-team playoff; they defeated Nevada, the West selection, by a score of 33–30 in double overtime to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Eastern Kentucky in a Division I-AA championship game.
Lehigh Engineers
Lehigh also finished their regular season with a 9–2 record; they had lost to Colgate of Division I-A and Delaware of Division II.[7] Tied with Eastern Kentucky for third in the final AP Poll for I-AA,[6] the Engineers were the East selection to the playoff; they defeated Murray State, the South selection, by a 28–9 score to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Lehigh in a Division I-AA championship game.
Scoring summary
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Game statistics
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Colonels | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 30 |
| Statistics | LEH | EKU |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 10 | 16 |
| Plays–yards | 56–204 | 74–338 |
| Rushes–yards | 33–102 | 69–289 |
| Passing yards | 102 | 49 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 6–23–4 | 1–5–2 |
| Time of possession |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | Passing | Rich Andres | 6–19, 102 yds, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Joe Rabuck | 17 car, 55 yds | |
| Receiving | Paul Anastasio | 2 rec, 42 yds | |
| Eastern Kentucky | Passing | Bill Hughes | 1–5, 49 yds, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Dale Patton | 21 car, 121 yds, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Jerry Parrish | 1 rec, 49 yds |
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