1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

none the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game the Division I-A (now FBS) champions 1981 Clemson Tigers football team August 2023 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship I-AA National Championship GamePioneer Bowl 1981 NCAA Division I-AA 1981 December 19 Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky Colonels 12–1 Ohio Valley Roy Kidd 1 1 3 6 7 7 Idaho State University Idaho State Bengals 11–1 Big Sky Dave Kragthorpe 2 2 7 21 0 6 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 11,002 ABC Sports Bill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglsXoD7J08 Highlights from the 1981 1-AA National Championship Team---the ISU Bengals February 24, 2018 May 11, 2019 YouTube 1980 1982 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.https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/20/sports/no-headline-139857.html Idaho State Takes Title, 34-23 AP The New York Times December 20, 1981 May 11, 2019 nytimes.com The game was also known as the Pioneer Bowl,https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31452495/pioneer_bowl_comeback_today/ Pioneer Bowl Comeback Today Rutland Daily Herald Rutland, Vermont 24 December 19, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.com 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.https://www.newspapers.com/clip/28229079/meac_gets_berth_in_iaa_football/ MEAC gets berth in I-AA football playoffs Barry Cooper Tallahassee Democrat 23 May 1, 1981 February 9, 2019 newspapers.com Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1981 Eastern Kentucky Colonels football team 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.http://cfbinfo.com/team/eastern-kentucky-colonels/1981 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 1981 Schedule cfbinfo.com May 11, 2019 May 11, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190511052820/http://cfbinfo.com/team/eastern-kentucky-colonels/1981 dead Ranked first in the final NCAA I-AA in-house pollhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/31452418/ncaa_division_iaa/ NCAA Division I-AA AP The Morning News Wilmington, Delaware B2 November 25, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.com 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 1981 Idaho State Bengals football team Idaho State finished their regular season with a 9–1 record (6–1 in conference); their only loss was an away game at Montana.http://cfbinfo.com/team/idaho-st-bengals/1981 Idaho State Bengals 1981 Schedule cfbinfo.com May 11, 2019 May 11, 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190511052812/http://cfbinfo.com/team/idaho-st-bengals/1981 dead Ranked second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll 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 EKU ISU 1 EKU FG 21 Jamie Lovett 3 0 1 3:07 ISU 80 RecTD Chris Corp Mike Machurek 17 good Case deBruijn 3 7 2 EKU RushTD Ed Hairston 3 failed Lovett 9 7 2 ISU 6 52 RushTD Dwain Wilson 6 good deBruijn 9 14 2 ISU 80 RecTD Chris Ewing Machurek 9 good deBruijn 9 21 2 2:52 ISU 38 RushTD Wilson 6 good deBruijn 9 28 3 5:17 EKU 71 RushTD Nicky Yeast 2 good Lovett 16 28 4 14:__ ISU 74 RushTD Paul Fite 2 run failed 16 34 4 8:13 EKU RushTD Yeast 4 good Lovett 23 34 23 34 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31473571/easterns_mistakes_lead_to_3423_loss/ Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game Stan Sutton The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky C 1 December 20, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/31473680/easterns_mistakes_lead_to_3423_loss/ Eastern's mistakes lead to 34-23 loss in I-AA title game (cont'd) Stan Sutton The Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky C 4 December 20, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.com Game statistics Colonels 3 6 7 7 Bengals 7 21 0 6 thumb|right|Memorial Stadium, site of the 1981 I-AA title game Eastern Kentucky Colonels EKU Idaho State Bengals ISU 19 75–386 47–167 219 14–28–1 24 77–482 31–102 380 31–46–0 Eastern Kentucky Colonels Eastern Kentucky Idaho State Bengals Idaho State Chris Isaac 14–28, 219 yds, 1 INT Nicky Yeast 10 car, 58 yds Steve Bird 5 rec, 81 yds Mike Machurek 29–44, 380 yds, 2 TD Dwain Wilson 12 car, 58 yds, 2 TD Jerry Bird 9 rec, 139 yds https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31466613/idaho_state_wins_iaa_football_title/ Idaho State wins I-AA football title Joe Stroop AP The Morning News Wilmington, Delaware D11 December 20, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.comhttps://www.newspapers.com/clip/31466766/pioneer_bowl/ Pioneer Bowl El Paso Times El Paso, Texas 8C December 20, 1981 May 11, 2019 newspapers.com See also 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football rankings References Further reading https://isubengals.com/sports/2015/6/25/GEN_0625151557.aspx 1981 National Champions isubengals.com May 11, 2019 https://www.idahostatejournal.com/sports/local/remembering-the-national-championship/article_74acac48-eb26-11e0-b5d9-001cc4c002e0.html Remembering the 1981 National Championship Chase Glorfield Idaho State Journal Pocatello, Idaho September 29, 2011 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 Championship Game Category:NCAA Division I Football Championship Games Category:Eastern Kentucky Colonels football games Category:Idaho State Bengals football games Category:American football competitions in Texas Category:Sports in Wichita Falls, Texas NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game