2006 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 2006 Rose Bowl.

The 2006 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the UMass Minutemen and the Appalachian State Mountaineers. The game was played on December 15, 2006, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This was the first season that the NCAA football classification formerly known as Division I-AA operated as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The culminating game of the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season, it was won by Appalachian State, 28–17.

With sponsorship by Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the game was officially known as the NCAA Division I Championship presented by Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Teams

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2006 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.

Appalachian State Mountaineers

Main article: 2006 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

Appalachian State finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (7–0 in conference). Their only loss was to NC State of the FBS, in their first game of the season. The Mountaineers were the first-seed in the tournament and defeated Coastal Carolina, Montana State, and fourth-seed Youngstown State to reach the final. This was Appalachian State's second consecutive appearance in the championship game, having won the title in 2005.

UMass Minutemen

Main article: 2006 UMass Minutemen football team

UMass finished their regular season with a 10–1 record (8–0 in conference). Their only loss was to Navy of the FBS, in their second game of the season. The Minutemen were the third-seed in the tournament and defeated Lafayette, New Hampshire, and second-seed Montana to reach the final. This was the third appearance for UMass in a Division I-AA/FCS championship game, having won in 1998 and having lost in 1978.

Game summary

Scoring summary

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP APP MASS 1 11:49 8 80 3:11 MASS Matt Lawrence 1-yard touchdown run, Chris Koepplin kick good 0 7 1 1:15 4 70 1:27 APP Kevin Richardson 45-yard touchdown run, Julian Rauch kick good 7 7 2 0:49 11 78 4:19 APP Richardson 6-yard touchdown run, Rauch kick good 14 7 3 4:22 11 81 4:25 MASS Brad Listorti 17-yard touchdown reception from Liam Coen, Koepplin kick good 14 14 4 13:22 13 71 5:50 APP Richardson 4-yard touchdown run, Rauch kick good 21 14 4 8:46 10 55 4:31 MASS 42-yard field goal by Koepplin 21 17 4 1:51 14 80 6:46 APP Richardson 2-yard touchdown run, Rauch kick good 28 17 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 28 17

Game statistics

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Mountaineers	7	7	0	14	28
No. 3 Minutemen	7	0	7	3	17

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards

Statistics	APP	MASS
First downs	24	19
Plays–yards	72–431	65–372
Rushes–yards	53–285	32–151
Passing yards	146	221
Passing: comp–att–int	12–19–1	20–33–2
Time of possession	33:10	26:50

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Appalachian State	Passing	Armanti Edwards	12–19, 146 yds, 1 INT
	Rushing	Kevin Richardson	30 car, 179 yds, 4 TD
	Receiving	Dexter Jackson William Mayfield	3 rec, 44 yds 3 rec, 44 yds
UMass	Passing	Liam Coen	20–33, 221 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Steve Baylark	24 car, 133 yds
	Receiving	Brad Listorti	5 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD

Further reading

• "No. 3 UMass Falls To No. 1 App State In NCAA Final, 28-17". umassathletics.com. December 15, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
• "NCAA Division I Football Championship". umassathletics.com. December 16, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
• "Division I-AA Poll". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana: The Sports Network. AP. November 21, 2006. p. D3. Retrieved February 5, 2019 – via newspapers.com.

External links

• Box score at umassathletics.com
• 2006 FCS Championship - Appalachian State vs. UMass via YouTube