Postseason college football game between the Marshall Thundering Herd and the Montana Grizzlies
This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game, see
1995 Orange Bowl .
College football game
The1995 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseasoncollege football game between theMarshall Thundering Herd and theMontana Grizzlies . The game was played on December 16, 1995, atMarshall University Stadium inHuntington, West Virginia . The culminating game of the1995 NCAA Division I-AA football season , it was won by Montana, 22–20.[ 3]
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the1995 I-AA Playoffs , which began with a 16-teambracket .[ 4] Marshall University Stadium , had been determined in March 1994.[ 5]
Montana finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference).[ 6] Eastern New Mexico ofDivision II , while one of their losses was toWashington State ofDivision I-A . Seeded sixth in the playoffs, the Grizzlies defeated 10-seedEastern Kentucky , 14-seedGeorgia Southern , and seventh-seedStephen F. Austin to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game.
Marshall Thundering Herd [ edit ] Marshall also finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference).[ 7] NC State of Division I-A. The Thundering Herd, seeded fifth, defeated 12-seedJackson State , 16-seedNorthern Iowa , and top-seedMcNeese State to reach the final. This was the fifth appearance for Marshall in a Division I-AA championship game, having one prior win (1992) and three prior losses (1987, 1991, and 1993).
Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP MONT MAR 1 6:09 6 13 MONT 48-yard field goal by Andy Larson 3 0 2 12:54 11 51 MAR 39-yard field goal by Tim Openlander 3 3 2 0:59 5 77 MONT Matt Wells 24-yard touchdown reception fromDave Dickenson , Larson kick good 10 3 3 9:46 11 48 MAR Chris Parker 10-yard touchdown run, Openlander kick good10 10 3 6:54 MONT Safety :intentional grounding in the end zone by Marshall QBChad Pennington 12 10 4 12:30 4 20 MONT Wells 1-yard touchdown reception from Dickenson, Larson kick good 19 10 4 10:05 7 51 MAR 21-yard field goal by Tim Openlander 19 13 4 4:45 8 76 MAR Parker 26-yard touchdown run, Openlander kick good 19 20 4 0:39 12 72 MONT 25-yard field goal by Andy Larson 22 20 "TOP" =time of possession . For other American football terms, seeGlossary of American football . 22 20
[ 8]
1 2 3 4 Total No. 6 Grizzlies 3 7 2 10 22 No. 5 Thundering Herd 0 3 7 10 20
Marshall quarterbackChad Pennington Statistics MONT MAR First downs 21 17 Plays–yards 77–333 73–358 Rushes–yards 29–49 32–112 Passing yards 281 246 Passing:comp– att– int 29–48–1 23–41–1 Time of possession 30:14 29:46
Team Category Player Statistics Montana Passing Dave Dickenson 29–48, 281 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Josh Branen 6 car, 33 yds Receiving Joe Douglass 8 rec, 102 yds Marshall Passing Chad Pennington 23–40, 246 yds, 1 INT Rushing Chris Parker 23 car, 94 yds, 2 TD Receiving Jermaine Wiggins 5 rec, 81 yds
[ 8]
^ "Latest Line" .Sun-Sentinel Fort Lauderdale, Florida . December 16, 1995. p. 11C. RetrievedApril 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.^ "Ivy League Coordinator of Football Officiating Maconaghy Announces Retirement" .ivyleague.com . December 5, 2018. RetrievedMarch 27, 2019 .^a b Briggeman, Kim (December 17, 1995)."Heart of the Matter" .Missoulian . RetrievedMarch 20, 2019 – via newspapers.com. ^ "Division I-AA championship" .The News Journal Wilmington, Delaware . November 20, 1995. p. B3. RetrievedFebruary 9, 2019 – via newspapers.com.^ "Marshall to host next two I-AA football finals" .The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier Waterloo, Iowa .AP . March 18, 1994. p. C3. RetrievedApril 17, 2019 – via newspapers.com.^ "Montana Grizzlies 1995 Schedule" .cfbinfo.com . Archived fromthe original on March 20, 2019. RetrievedMarch 20, 2019 .^ "Marshall Thundering Herd 1995 Schedule" .cfbinfo.com . Archived fromthe original on March 20, 2019. RetrievedMarch 20, 2019 .^a b "Summary (box score)" .Missoulian . RetrievedMarch 20, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
Games through 2009 were played in December. Subsequent games have been played in January (*) or May (†).
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture and lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1995–96 NCAA Division I championships
†Not an officially sanctioned NCAA championship
