1980 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 1980 Georgia Bulldogs football team.

The 1980 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Boise State Broncos. The game was played on December 20, 1980, at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. The culminating game of the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Boise State, 31–29.^[3][4][5]

1980 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game Camellia Bowl
Boise State Broncos Eastern Kentucky Colonels (9–3) (10–2) Big Sky Ohio Valley 31 29 Head coach:  Jim Criner Head coach:  Roy Kidd AP 7 AP 3
1 2 3 4 Total Boise State 0 14 10 7 31 Eastern Kentucky 3 7 6 13 29
Date	December 20, 1980
Season	1980
Stadium	Hughes Stadium
Location	Sacramento, California
Attendance	8,157[1]
United States TV coverage
Network	ABC Sports[2]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  ← 1979 1981 →

The game was also known as the Camellia Bowl,^[2] a name that had been used starting in 1961 for various NAIA and NCAA playoff games held in Sacramento. The Colonels, defending champions from 1979, became the first program to play in a second I-AA title game.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1980 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a four-team bracket.^[6]

Eastern Kentucky Colonels

See also: 1980 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team

Eastern Kentucky finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (5–2 in conference); their losses were to Western Kentucky and Akron.^[7] Ranked third in the final AP Poll for I-AA,^[8] the Colonels were the at-large selection to the four-team playoff; they defeated Lehigh, the East selection, by a score of 23–20 to reach the final. This was the second appearance for Eastern Kentucky in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1979.

Boise State Broncos

Main article: 1980 Boise State Broncos football team

Boise State finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (6–1 in conference); their conference loss was to Montana State, with non-conference losses to Southeastern Louisiana and Division II program Cal Poly.^[9] Ranked seventh in the final AP Poll for I-AA,^[8] the Broncos were the West selection to the playoff; they defeated Grambling State, the South selection, by a 14–9 score to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Boise State in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Trailing 24–22 late in the fourth quarter, Eastern Kentucky scored a touchdown on a 60-yard pass completion with only 55 seconds left in the game, taking a 29–24 lead. Boise State then went 80 yards in 43 seconds for the final points of the game, winning 31–29.^[10][11]

Note: contemporary news reports listed attendance as 10,000;^[12][13] NCAA records indicate 8,157.^[1]

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP BSU EKU 1 EKU 26-yard field goal by David Flores 0 3 2 7:43 BSU Kipp Bedard 5-yard touchdown reception from Joe Aliotti, Kenrick Camerud kick good 7 3 2 3:35 EKU Tony Braxton 7-yard touchdown run, Flores kick good 7 10 2 1:11 BSU David Hughes 1-yard touchdown run, Camerud kick good 14 10 3 12:30 45 BSU Cedric Minter 1-yard touchdown run, Camerud kick good 21 10 3 12 89 EKU Chris Isaac 11-yard touchdown run, 2-point Jerry Parrish run failed 21 16 3 0:43 BSU 24-yard field goal by Camerud 24 16 4 11:15 14 EKU Braxton 2-yard touchdown run, 2-point pass failed 24 22 4 0:55 EKU David Booze 60-yard touchdown reception from Isaac, Flores kick good 24 29 4 0:12 80 0:43 BSU Duane Dlouhy 14-yard touchdown reception from Aliotti, Camerud kick good 31 29 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 31 29

^{[3][10][11][12]}

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	14	10	7	31
Colonels	3	7	6	13	29

Hughes Stadium, site of the 1980 I-AA title game

Statistics	BSU	EKU
First downs	24	19
Plays–yards	86–510	74–397
Rushes–yards	45–152	49–147
Passing yards	358	250
Passing: comp–att–int	24–41–1	16–25–1
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Boise State	Passing	Joe Aliotti	24–41, 358 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Cedric Minter	22 car, 105 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Kipp Bedard	11 rec, 212 yds, 1 TD
Eastern Kentucky	Passing	Chris Isaac	16–25, 250 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Dale Patton	9 car, 44 yds
	Receiving	David Booze	8 rec, 105 yds, 1 TD

^[12][13]

See also

• 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings