1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

College American football game the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game the Division I-A (now FBS) champions 1979 Alabama Crimson Tide football team August 2023 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship I-AA National Championship Game 1979 NCAA Division I-AA 1979 December 15 Lehigh University Lehigh Engineers 10–2 Independent John Whitehead 3 (tied) 0 7 0 0 Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky Colonels 10–2 Ohio Valley Roy Kidd 3 (tied) 7 7 7 9 Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida 5,200 ABC Sports Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31512244/viewing_sports/ Viewing Sports Paul Henniger Los Angeles Times 2 December 15, 1979 May 12, 2019 newspapers.com 1978 1980 The 1979 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Lehigh Engineers (now the Lehigh Mountain Hawks). The game was played on December 15, 1979, at Orlando Stadium (now Camping World Stadium) in Orlando, Florida. The culminating game of the 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Eastern Kentucky, 30–7.https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/16/archives/lehigh-routed-by-307-kentuckians-start-fast-lehigh-scores-from-1.html Lehigh Routed By 30-7 AP The New York Times December 16, 1979 May 12, 2019 Teams The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1979 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a four-team bracket.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28226357/eastern_kentucky_gains_football_playoff/ Eastern Kentucky Gains Football Playoff Berth The Tennessean Nashville, Tennessee 36 December 3, 1979 February 9, 2019 newspapers.com Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1979 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team Eastern Kentucky finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (5–1 in conference); their losses were to East Tennessee State of Division I-A and conference rival Murray State.http://cfbinfo.com/team/eastern-kentucky-colonels/1979 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1979 Schedule cfbinfo.com May 12, 2019 July 20, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190720174614/http://cfbinfo.com/team/eastern-kentucky-colonels/1979 dead Tied for third with Lehigh in the final AP Poll for I-AA,https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31503669/1aa_top_10/ 1-AA Top 10 The Victoria Advocate Victoria, Texas AP 2B November 27, 1979 May 12, 2019 newspapers.com the Colonels were the at-large selection to the four-team playoff; they defeated Nevada, the West selection, by a score of 33–30 in double overtime to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Eastern Kentucky in a Division I-AA championship game. Lehigh Engineers 1979 Lehigh Engineers football team Lehigh also finished their regular season with a 9–2 record; they had lost to Colgate of Division I-A and Delaware of Division II.http://cfbinfo.com/team/lehigh-mountain-hawks/1979 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 1979 Schedule cfbinfo.com May 12, 2019 July 20, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190720180718/http://cfbinfo.com/team/lehigh-mountain-hawks/1979 dead Tied with Eastern Kentucky for third in the final AP Poll for I-AA, the Engineers were the East selection to the playoff; they defeated Murray State, the South selection, by a 28–9 score to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Lehigh in a Division I-AA championship game. Game summary Scoring summary LEH EKU 1 3:37 EKU RushTD Bill Hughes 1 good David Flores 0 7 2 EKU RushTD Nicky Yeast 1 good Flores 0 14 2 LEH RushTD Bob Romeo 1 good Ted Iobst 7 14 3 EKU RushTD Dale Patton 2 good Flores 7 21 4 EKU FG 29 Flores 7 24 4 EKU RushTD Tony Braxton 14 pass failed 7 30 7 30 Game statistics Engineers 0 7 0 0 Colonels 7 7 7 9 thumb|right|Orlando Stadium, site of the 1979 I-AA title game Lehigh Mountain Hawks LEH Eastern Kentucky Colonels EKU 10 56–204 33–102 102 6–23–4 16 74–338 69–289 49 1–5–2 Lehigh Mountain Hawks Lehigh Eastern Kentucky Colonels Eastern Kentucky Rich Andres 6–19, 102 yds, 2 INT Joe Rabuck 17 car, 55 yds Paul Anastasio 2 rec, 42 yds Bill Hughes 1–5, 49 yds, 2 INT Dale Patton 21 car, 121 yds, 1 TD Jerry Parrish 1 rec, 49 yds https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31509042/e_kentucky_whips_lehigh_for_iaa_title/ E. Kentucky whips Lehigh for I-AA title AP Tallahassee Democrat Tallahassee, Florida 5F December 16, 1979 May 12, 2019 newspapers.com See also 1979 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings References Further reading https://ekusports.com/hof.aspx?hof=63 1979 Football Team Team of Distinction ekusports.com May 12, 2019 External links EKU vs Lehigh - 1979 1st Quarter via YouTube Championship Game Category:NCAA Division I Football Championship Games Category:Eastern Kentucky Colonels football games Category:Lehigh Mountain Hawks football games Category:American football in Orlando, Florida Category:American football competitions in Orlando, Florida NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game Category:20th century in Orlando, Florida NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game