1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) champions, see 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team.

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
I-AA National Championship Game
Lehigh Engineers Eastern Kentucky Colonels (10–2) (10–2) Independent Ohio Valley 7 30 Head coach:  John Whitehead Head coach:  Roy Kidd AP 3 (tied) AP 3 (tied)
1 2 3 4 Total Lehigh 0 7 0 0 7 Eastern Kentucky 7 7 7 9 30
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]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  < 1978 1980 >

Teams

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

Main article: 1979 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

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

See also: 1979 Lehigh Engineers football team

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.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP LEH EKU 1 3:37 EKU Bill Hughes 1-yard touchdown run, David Flores kick good 0 7 2 EKU Nicky Yeast 1-yard touchdown run, Flores kick good 0 14 2 LEH Bob Romeo 1-yard touchdown run, Ted Iobst kick good 7 14 3 EKU Dale Patton 2-yard touchdown run, Flores kick good 7 21 4 EKU 29-yard field goal by Flores 7 24 4 EKU Tony Braxton 14-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed 7 30 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 30

^[1][3]

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Engineers	0	7	0	0	7
Colonels	7	7	7	9	30

Orlando Stadium, site of the 1979 I-AA title game

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

^[1][3]

See also

• 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings

References

1. "E. Kentucky whips Lehigh for I-AA title". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. AP. December 16, 1979. p. 5F. Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
2. Henniger, Paul (December 15, 1979). "Viewing Sports". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
3. "Lehigh Routed By 30-7". The New York Times. AP. December 16, 1979. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
4. "Eastern Kentucky Gains Football Playoff Berth". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. December 3, 1979. p. 36. Retrieved February 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
5. "Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1979 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved May 12, 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
6. "1-AA Top 10". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. AP. November 27, 1979. p. 2B. Retrieved May 12, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
7. "Lehigh Mountain Hawks 1979 Schedule". cfbinfo.com. Retrieved May 12, 2019.^{[permanent dead link‍]}

Further reading

• "1979 Football Team Team of Distinction". ekusports.com. Retrieved May 12, 2019.

External links

• EKU vs Lehigh - 1979 1st Quarter via YouTube