2004 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game
Postseason college football game
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The 2004 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the James Madison Dukes and the Montana Grizzlies. The game was played on December 17, 2004, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The culminating game of the 2004 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by James Madison, 31–21.
| 2004 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| I-AA National Championship Game | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 17, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Finley Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Chattanooga, Tennessee | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | G. Hartleb[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 16,771[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ESPN2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Teams
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2004 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.
James Madison Dukes
James Madison finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference). One of their losses was to West Virginia of Division I-A. The Dukes, unseeded in the tournament, defeated Lehigh, second-seed Furman, and third-seed William & Mary to reach the final. This was the first appearance for James Madison in a Division I-AA championship game.
Montana Grizzlies
Montana finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–1 in conference). The Grizzlies, also unseeded in the tournament, defeated Northwestern State, New Hampshire, and Sam Houston State to reach the final. This was the fifth appearance for Montana in a Division I-AA championship game; they had won in 1995 and 2001, and lost in 1996 and 2000.
Game summary
Scoring summary
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Game statistics
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
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| Dukes | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Grizzlies | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Statistics | JMU | MONT |
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| First downs | 32 | 21 |
| Plays–yards | 79–446 | 61–415 |
| Rushes–yards | 61–314 | 23–44 |
| Passing yards | 132 | 371 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 13–18–0 | 29–38–1 |
| Time of possession | 36:13 | 23:47 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Madison | Passing | Justin Rascati | 13–18, 132 yds |
| Rushing | Maurice Fenner | 29 car, 164 yds, 2 TD | |
| Receiving | Tom Ridley | 3 rec, 32 yds | |
| Montana | Passing | Craig Ochs | 29–38, 371 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Lex Hilliard | 12 car, 26 yds | |
| Receiving | Jon Talmage | 6 rec, 84 yds |