1984 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 1984 BYU Cougars football team.

The 1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Montana State Bobcats and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. The game was played on December 15, 1984, at Johnson Hagood Stadium in Charleston, South Carolina. The culminating game of the 1984 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Montana State, 19–6.^[2]

1984 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Montana State Bobcats (10–4) (11–2) Southland Big Sky 6 19 Head coach:  A. L. Williams Head coach:  Dave Arnold NCAA Seed 9 – NCAA Seed 2 (tie) 3
1 2 3 4 Total Louisiana Tech 0 0 0 6 6 Montana State 9 10 0 0 19
Date	December 15, 1984
Season	1984
Stadium	Johnson Hagood Stadium
Location	Charleston, South Carolina
Referee	Courtney Mauzy (ACC)[1]
Attendance	9,125[2]
United States TV coverage
Network	Satellite Program Network[3]
Announcers	Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Steve Davis (color)[1]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship  < 1983 1985 >

The championship game was televised on the Satellite Program Network (SPN),^[3] as the NCAA paid SPN to broadcast some playoff contests following a Supreme Court ruling (NCAA v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma) that halted the NCAA's practice of negotiating television contracts for its members.^[4]

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1984 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 12-team bracket.^[5]

Montana State Bobcats

Main article: 1984 Montana State Bobcats football team

Montana State finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference); two wins came over Division II opponents (Mesa State and Portland State) and one win came over a Division I-A program (Fresno State).^[6] Tied for second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll^[7] and seeded third in the tournament, the Bobcats received a first-round bye then defeated Arkansas State and second-seed Rhode Island to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Montana State in a Division I-AA championship game.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

Main article: 1984 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

Louisiana Tech finished their regular season with a 7–4 record (5–1 in conference); three of their losses were to Division I-A programs (Southwestern Louisiana, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss).^[8] Ranked ninth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll^[7] and unseeded in the tournament, the Bulldogs defeated Mississippi Valley State, top-seed Alcorn State, and Middle Tennessee State to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Louisiana Tech in a Division I-AA championship game.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP La. Tech MSU 1 11:59 6 15 1:01 MSU 33-yard field goal by Mark Carter 0 3 1 4 31 0:41 MSU Joe Bignell 17-yard touchdown reception from Kelly Bradley, Carter kick no good (wide left) 0 9 2 4:54 5 80 2:10 MSU Bignell 33-yard touchdown reception from Bradley, Carter kick good 0 16 2 0:06 MSU 48-yard field goal by Carter 0 19 4 0:48 La. Tech Michael Sherman 10-yard touchdown reception from Kyle Gandy, 2-point pass incomplete 6 19 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 6 19

^[9][1]

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	0	6	6
Bobcats	9	10	0	0	19

Johnson Hagood Stadium, site of the 1984 Division I-AA championship game

Statistics	La. Tech	MSU
First downs	19	20
Plays–yards	74–262	82–340
Rushes–yards	36–(-25)	25–6
Passing yards	287	334
Passing: comp–att–int	24–38–4	32–57–1
Time of possession	29:51	30:08

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Louisiana Tech	Passing	Kyle Gandy	24–38, 287 yds, 1 TD, 4 INT
	Rushing	Gerry Jones	4 car, 16 yds
	Receiving	Michael Sherman	4 rec, 77 yds, 1 TD
Montana State	Passing	Kelly Bradley	32–57, 334 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jesse Jones	4 car, 13 yds
	Receiving	Joe Bignell	10 rec, 130 yds, 2 TD

^[9]