Postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Furman Paladins
College football game
1988 NCAA Division I-AA Football ChampionshipI-AA National Championship Game 1 2 3 4 Total Georgia Southern 3 0 3 6 12 Furman 7 3 7 0 17
Date December 17, 1988 Season 1988 Stadium Holt Arena Location Pocatello, Idaho Favorite Georgia Southern by 5[ 1] Referee Larry Farina[ 2] Attendance 9,714[ 2] United States TV coverage Network ESPN Announcers Tim Brando (play-by-play), Stan White (color)[ 3]
The 1988 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Furman Paladins . The game was played on December 17, 1988, at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho . The culminating game of the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season , it was won by Furman, 17–12.[ 4]
Teams The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 1988 I-AA Playoffs , which began with a 16-team bracket.[ 5]
Georgia Southern Eagles Georgia Southern finished their regular season with a 9–2 record; one of their losses was to Florida State of Division I-A .[ 6] Ranked second in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[ 7] and seeded second in the tournament, the Eagles defeated The Citadel , Stephen F. Austin , and Eastern Kentucky to reach the final. This was the third appearance for Georgia Southern in a Division I-AA championship game, having won in 1985 and 1986.
Furman Paladins Furman also finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference); one of their losses was to Clemson of Division I-A.[ 8] Ranked fourth in the final NCAA I-AA in-house poll[ 7] and seeded fourth in the tournament, the Paladins defeated Delaware , Marshall , and top-seed Idaho to reach the final. This was the second appearance for Furman in a Division I-AA championship game, having lost to Georgia Southern in 1985.
Game summary
Scoring summary Scoring summary Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP GSC FUR 1 7:13 9 36 4:10 GSC 55-yard field goal by David Cool 3 0 1 0:54 13 88 6:19 FUR Greg Key 19-yard touchdown reception from Frankie DeBusk , Glenn Connally kick good 3 7 2 1:09 8 50 3:06 FUR 36-yard field goal by Connally 3 10 3 5:07 15 29 5:34 GSC 48-yard field goal by Cool 6 10 3 0:38 9 80 4:29 FUR Dwight Sterling 5-yard touchdown run, Connally kick good 6 17 4 12:24 GSC Mark Giles returned blocked punt 30 yards for touchdown, 2-point pass incomplete 12 17 "TOP" = time of possession . For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football . 12 17
[ 2]
Game statistics 1 2 3 4 Total Eagles 3 0 3 6 12 Paladins 7 3 7 0 17
Holt Arena , site of the 1988 Division I-AA championship game Statistics GSC FUR First downs 14 17 Plays–yards 69–198 65–355 Rushes–yards 52–134 54–231 Passing yards 64 124 Passing: comp –att –int 5–17–2 7–11–1 Time of possession 26:51 33:09
Team Category Player Statistics Georgia Southern Passing Raymond Gross 5–17, 64 yds, 2 INT Rushing Joe Ross 15 car, 58 yds Receiving Deryl Belser 2 rec, 26 yds Furman Passing Frankie DeBusk 7–11, 124 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Dwight Sterling 12 car, 70 yds, 1 TD Receiving Donald Lipscomb 3 rec, 53 yds
[ 2]
References ^ "America's Line". New York Daily News . December 17, 1988. p. 32. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com. ^ a b c d "NCAA Official Scoring Summary" (PDF) . December 17, 1988. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via Amazon Web Services . ^ "1988 I-AA National Championship - Furman vs Ga. Southern". June 21, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via YouTube . ^ "Furman Edges Ga. Southern for Div. I-AA Title". Deseret News . Salt Lake City . December 18, 1988. Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ Hardesty, Abe (November 21, 1988). "Citadel, Furman get I-AA berths". The Greenville News . Greenville, South Carolina . p. 5D. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com. ^ "Georgia Southern Eagles 1988 Schedule". cfbinfo.com . Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019 . ^ a b "Final I-AA poll". The Greenville News . Greenville, South Carolina . November 21, 1988. p. 5D. Retrieved April 27, 2019 – via newspapers.com. ^ "Furman Paladins 1988 Schedule". cfbinfo.com . Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019 .
Further reading Bainbridge, Judith (December 17, 2017). "In 1988, Furman won national title in football". The Greenville News . Retrieved April 27, 2019 .
External links 1988 I-AA National Championship - Furman vs Ga. Southern via YouTube 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 & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
1988–89 NCAA Division I championships