1997 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) championship game, see 1997 Sugar Bowl.

The 1997 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Youngstown State Penguins and the McNeese State Cowboys. The game was played on December 20, 1997, and was the first I-AA title game contested at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Youngstown State, 10–9.^[3]

1997 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Youngstown State Penguins McNeese State Cowboys (12–2) (13–1) Gateway Southland 10 9 Head coach:  Jim Tressel Head coach:  Bobby Keasler TSN Seed 4 8 TSN Seed 7 6
1 2 3 4 Total Youngstown State 0 3 0 7 10 McNeese State 3 0 6 0 9
Date	December 20, 1997
Season	1997
Stadium	Finley Stadium
Location	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee	Ron Buckner (SoCon)[1][2]
Attendance	14,771[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  < 1996 1998 >

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1997 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.^[4]

Youngstown State Penguins

See also: 1997 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Youngstown State finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (4–2 in conference).^[5] Seeded eighth in the playoffs, the Penguins defeated ninth-seed Hampton, first-seed Villanova, and third-seed Eastern Washington to reach the final. This was the fifth appearance for Youngstown State in a Division I-AA championship game, having won three titles (1991, 1993, and 1994) against one loss (1992).

McNeese State Cowboys

See also: 1997 McNeese State Cowboys football team

McNeese State finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (6–1 in conference).^[6] The Cowboys, seeded sixth, defeated 11-seed Montana, second-seed Western Illinois, and fourth-seed Delaware to reach the final. This was the first appearance for McNeese State in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP YSU MSU 1 5:30 10 54 4:01 MSU 22-yard field goal by Shonz LaFrenz 0 3 2 2:19 14 52 6:22 YSU 21-yard field goal by Mark Griffith 3 3 3 8:08 5 28 2:51 MSU 37-yard field goal by LaFrenz 3 6 3 0:51 9 38 4:45 MSU 46-yard field goal by LaFrenz 3 9 4 8:08 9 66 3:54 YSU Renauld Ray 9-yard touchdown reception from Demond Tidwell, Griffith kick good 10 9 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 9

^[1][7]

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 8 Penguins	0	3	0	7	10
No. 6 Cowboys	3	0	6	0	9

Youngstown State head coach Jim Tressel

Statistics	YSU	MSU
First downs	12	11
Plays–yards	60–200	57–201
Rushes–yards	39–73	29–58
Passing yards	127	143
Passing: comp–att–int	12–21–0	14–28–1
Time of possession	31:37	28:23

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Youngstown State	Passing	Demond Tidwell	11–20, 110 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Jake Andreadis	16 car, 47 yds
	Receiving	Tim Tyrrell	4 rec, 54 yds
McNeese State	Passing	Blake Prejean	14–28, 143 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	William Davis	19 car, 59 yds
	Receiving	Donnie Ashley	4 rec, 45 yds

^[1][3]