2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

This article is about the FCS (Division I-AA) championship game. For the FBS (Division I-A) championship game, see 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

The 2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Richmond Spiders and the Montana Grizzlies. It was played on December 19, 2008, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season, it was won by Richmond, 24–7.

2008 NCAA Division I Football Championship
FCS National Championship Game
Montana Grizzlies Richmond Spiders (14–1) (12–3) Big Sky CAA 7 24 Head coach:  Bobby Hauck Head coach:  Mike London TSN Seed 5 4 TSN Seed 7 —
1 2 3 4 Total Montana 0 0 0 7 7 Richmond 7 14 0 3 24
Date	December 19, 2008
Season	2008
Stadium	Finley Stadium
Location	Chattanooga, Tennessee
Favorite	Richmond by 1.5
Referee	Cooper Castleberry (Southland)
Attendance	17,823
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN2

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2008 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.

Richmond Spiders

Main article: 2008 Richmond Spiders football team

Richmond finished their regular season with a 9–3 record (6–2 in conference), after starting their season 4–3 through their first seven games. The Spiders defeated Eastern Kentucky, second-seeded Appalachian State, and third-seeded Northern Iowa to reach the final. This was Richmond's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.

Montana Grizzlies

Main article: 2008 Montana Grizzlies football team

Montana finished their regular season with an 11–1 record (7–1 in conference). As the fourth-seed in the tournament, the Grizzlies defeated Texas State, Weber State (who had given Montana their only defeat during the regular season), and top-seeded James Madison to reach the final. This was Montana's sixth appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game, having previously won in 1995 and 2001, and having lost in 1996, 2000, and 2004.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MONT RICH 1 9:02 11 66 5:58 RICH Eric Ward 23-yard touchdown reception from John Crone, Andrew Howard kick good 0 7 2 11:29 3 34 1:14 RICH Josh Vaughan 5-yard touchdown run, Howard kick good 0 14 2 2:13 12 75 6:52 RICH Garrett Wilkins 13-yard touchdown reception from Ward, Howard kick good 0 21 4 11:56 13 69 4:28 MONT Chase Reynolds 4-yard touchdown run, Brody McKnight kick good 7 21 4 6:54 4 -1 1:32 RICH 39-yard field goal by Brian Radford 7 24 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 7 24

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Grizzlies	0	0	0	7	7
Spiders	7	14	0	3	24

Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist

Statistics	MONT	RICH
First downs	15	16
Plays–yards	63–306	58–327
Rushes–yards	25–39	39–208
Passing yards	267	119
Passing: comp–att–int	19–38–1	13–19–0
Time of possession	28:59	31:01

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Montana	Passing	Cole Bergquist	19–36, 267 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	Chase Reynolds	12 car, 47 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Marc Mariani	7 rec, 172 yds
Richmond	Passing	Eric Ward	12–18, 96 yds, 1 TD
	Rushing	Josh Vaughan	23 car, 162 yds, 1 TD
	Receiving	Tre Gray	6 rec, 44 yds

Further reading

• "Grizzlies derailed in Chattanooga". gogriz.com. December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
• "Postgame Notes: Richmond Wins National Championship". richmondspiders.com. December 20, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
• "The Sports Network Division I-AA poll". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. The Sports Network. November 11, 2008. p. C5. Retrieved February 5, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

External links

• Box score at ESPN