Template:Infobox NCAA FCS football yearly game
The 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Idaho State Bengals. The game was played on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The culminating game of the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Idaho State, 34–23.[1]
The game was also known as the Pioneer Bowl,[2] a name that had been used starting in 1971 for various NCAA playoff games held in Wichita Falls. The Colonels were making their third consecutive appearance in the I-AA championship game.
Teams[]
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1981 I-AA Playoffs, which began with an eight-team bracket.[3]
Eastern Kentucky Colonels[]
Eastern Kentucky finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (8–0 in conference); their only loss was to Navy of Division I-A.[4] Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[5] and seeded first in the tournament, the Colonels defeated seventh-seed Delaware and fourth-seed Boise State to reach the final. This was the third appearance for Eastern Kentucky in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1979 and having lost in 1980.
Idaho State Bengals[]
Idaho State finished their regular season with a 9–1 record (6–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game at Montana.[6] Ranked second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[5] and seeded second in the tournament, the Bengals defeated eighth-seed Rhode Island and third-seed South Carolina State to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Idaho State in a Division I-AA championship game.
Game summary[]
Scoring summary[]
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Game statistics[]
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonels | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| Bengals | 7 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
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Memorial Stadium, site of the 1981 I-AA title game
Template:AmFootballGameStatistics Template:AmFootballGameTopPlayers [7][10]
See also[]
- 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings
References[]
- ↑ "Idaho State Takes Title, 34-23". The New York Times. AP. December 20, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/20/sports/no-headline-139857.html. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ "Pioneer Bowl Comeback Today". Rutland Daily Herald (Rutland, Vermont): p. 24. December 19, 1981. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31452495/pioneer_bowl_comeback_today/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ Cooper, Barry (May 1, 1981). "MEAC gets berth in I-AA football playoffs". Tallahassee Democrat: p. 23. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28229079/meac_gets_berth_in_iaa_football/. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ↑ "Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1981 Schedule". http://cfbinfo.com/team/eastern-kentucky-colonels/1981. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "NCAA Division I-AA". Wilmington, Delaware. November 25, 1981. p. B2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31452418/ncaa_division_iaa/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ "Idaho State Bengals 1981 Schedule". http://cfbinfo.com/team/idaho-st-bengals/1981. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Stroop, Joe (December 20, 1981). "Idaho State wins I-AA football title". The Morning News. AP (Wilmington, Delaware): p. D11. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31466613/idaho_state_wins_iaa_football_title/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ Sutton, Stan (December 20, 1981). "Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game". The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky): p. C 1. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31473571/easterns_mistakes_lead_to_3423_loss/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ Sutton, Stan (December 20, 1981). "Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game (cont'd)". The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky): p. C 4. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31473680/easterns_mistakes_lead_to_3423_loss/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- ↑ "Pioneer Bowl". El Paso Times (El Paso, Texas): p. 8C. December 20, 1981. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31466766/pioneer_bowl/. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
Further reading[]
- "1981 National Champions". https://isubengals.com/sports/2015/6/25/GEN_0625151557.aspx. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
- Glorfield, Chase (September 29, 2011). "Remembering the 1981 National Championship". Pocatello, Idaho. https://www.idahostatejournal.com/sports/local/remembering-the-national-championship/article_74acac48-eb26-11e0-b5d9-001cc4c002e0.html. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
External links[]
- Highlights from the 1981 1-AA National Championship Team—the ISU Bengals via YouTube
- EKU vs Idaho State - 1981 Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 via YouTube
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