1981 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 1981 Clemson Tigers football team.

1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
I-AA National Championship Game
Pioneer Bowl
Eastern Kentucky Colonels Idaho State Bengals
(12–1) (11–1)
Ohio Valley Big Sky
23 34
Head coach: 
Roy Kidd		 Head coach: 
Dave Kragthorpe
NCAASeed
11
NCAASeed
22
1234 Total
Eastern Kentucky 3677 23
Idaho State 72106 34
DateDecember 19, 1981
Season1981
StadiumMemorial Stadium
LocationWichita Falls, Texas
Attendance11,002[1]
United States TV coverage
NetworkABC Sports
AnnouncersBill Flemming (play-by-play), Frank Broyles (color)[2]
NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship
 < 1980 1982 > 

The 1981 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Eastern Kentucky Colonels and the Idaho State Bengals. The game was played on December 19, 1981, at Memorial Stadium in Wichita Falls, Texas. The culminating game of the 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Idaho State, 34–23.[3]

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. The Colonels were making their third consecutive appearance in the I-AA championship game.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference MNbox was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Highlights from the 1981 1-AA National Championship Team---the ISU Bengals". February 24, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "Idaho State Takes Title, 34-23". The New York Times. AP. December 20, 1981. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via nytimes.com.
  4. ^ "Pioneer Bowl Comeback Today". Rutland Daily Herald. Rutland, Vermont. December 19, 1981. p. 24. Retrieved May 11, 2019 – via newspapers.com.