1989 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 1989 Miami Hurricanes football team.

The 1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks. The game was played on December 16, 1989, at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The culminating game of the 1989 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Georgia Southern, 37–34.^[3]

1989 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Georgia Southern Eagles (12–1–1) (14–0) Southland Independent 34 37 Head coach:  Lynn Graves Head coach:  Erk Russell NCAA Seed 3 3 NCAA Seed 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Stephen F. Austin 7 10 10 7 34 Georgia Southern 14 6 0 17 37
Date	December 16, 1989
Season	1989
Stadium	Paulson Stadium
Location	Statesboro, Georgia
Referee	Wally Righton[1]
Attendance	25,725[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Barry Tompkins (play-by-play), Stan White (color)[2]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  < 1988 1990 >

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1989 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.^[4] The location of the final, the Georgia Southern Eagles' Paulson Stadium, had been predetermined via a three-year agreement the university reached with the NCAA in February 1989.^[5]

Georgia Southern Eagles

Main article: 1989 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

Georgia Southern finished their regular season with an 11–0 record.^[6] Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll^[7] and seeded first in the tournament, the Eagles defeated Villanova, Middle Tennessee State, and Montana to reach the final. This was the fourth appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having two prior wins (1985 and 1986) and one prior loss (1988).

Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks

See also: 1989 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team

Stephen F. Austin finished their regular season with a 9–1–1 record (5–0–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game against Boise State.^[8] Ranked third in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll^[7] and seeded third in the tournament, the Lumberjacks defeated Grambling State, Southwest Missouri State, and second-seed Furman to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Stephen F. Austin in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SFA GSC 1 10:41 6 66 2:42 GSC Raymond Gross 34-yard touchdown run, Mike Dowis kick good 0 7 1 7:58 6 45 2:20 GSC Gross fumble into end zone recovered by Terrance Sorrell for a touchdown, Dowis kick good 0 14 1 0:19 6 20 2:51 SFA Todd Hammel 1-yard touchdown run, Chuck Rawlinson kick good 7 14 2 8:50 8 83 2:56 SFA Larry Centers 12-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 14 14 2 4:27 8 52 4:23 GSC 30-yard field goal by Dowis 14 17 2 0:21 6 7 2:38 GSC 37-yard field goal by Dowis 14 20 2 0:00 1 29 0:21 SFA 53-yard field goal by Rawlinson 17 20 3 11:19 5 11 2:06 SFA 53-yard field goal by Rawlinson 20 20 3 5:27 11 79 4:34 SFA Joe Bradford 7-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 27 20 4 14:57 16 86 5:30 GSC Joe Ross 2-yard touchdown run, Dowis kick good 27 27 4 12:32 5 67 2:25 SFA Centers 46-yard touchdown reception from Hammel, Rawlinson kick good 34 27 4 5:58 6 51 1::32 GSC Ernest Thompson 1-yard touchdown run, Dowis kick good 34 34 4 1:41 9 27 3:17 GSC 20-yard field goal by Dowis 34 37 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 34 37

^[1]

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	7	10	10	7	34
Eagles	14	6	0	17	37

Statistics	SFA	GSC
First downs	18	21
Plays–yards	73–377	81–387
Rushes–yards	32–74	66–274
Passing yards	303	113
Passing: comp–att–int	15–41–5	7–15–0
Time of possession	26:50	33:10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Stephen F. Austin	Passing	Todd Hammel	15–40, 303 yds, 3 TD, 5 INT
	Rushing	Larry Centers	22 car, 63 yds
	Receiving	Joe Bradford	4 rec, 102 yds, 1 TD
Georgia Southern	Passing	Raymond Gross	7–15, 113 yds
	Rushing	Joe Ross	31 car, 152 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Karl Miller	2 rec, 53 yds

^[1]