1978 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) champions, see 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.

1978 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Pioneer Bowl
Florida A&M Rattlers UMass Minutemen
(11–1) (9–3)
SIAC Yankee Conference
35 28
Head coach: 
Rudy Hubbard		 Head coach: 
Bob Pickett
AP
3
AP
4 (tie)
1234 Total
Florida A&M 014714 35
UMass 33913 28
DateDecember 16, 1978
Season1978
StadiumMemorial Stadium
LocationWichita Falls, Texas
Attendance13,604[1]
United States TV coverage
NetworkABC Sports
AnnouncersBill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)[2]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
  1979 > 

The 1978 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and the UMass Minutemen. The game was played on December 16, 1978, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The culminating game of the 1978 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Florida A&M, 35–28.[3]

This was the first season of I-AA play, and the first championship game for the newly formed division. The game was also known as the Pioneer Bowl,[4] a name that had been used starting in 1971 for various NCAA playoff games held in Wichita Falls.

  1. ^ "Division I Championship" (PDF). NCAA. 2013. p. 14. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via ncaa.org.
  2. ^ Richardson, Brian (December 17, 1978). "ABC still owes the Rattlers one". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. p. 5D. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "UMass Toppled in Bowl, 35-28". The New York Times. AP. December 17, 1978. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
  4. ^ Climer, David (July 22, 1978). "I-AA Finals Set At Pioneer Bowl". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 20. Retrieved May 13, 2019 – via newspapers.com.