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1991 NCAA Division I-AA season
Regular season
Number of teams90
DurationAugust–November
Payton Award Jamie Martin (QB, Weber State)
Playoff
DurationNovember 30–December 21
Championship date December 21, 1991
Championship site Paulson Stadium
Statesboro, Georgia
Champion Youngstown State
NCAA Division I-AA football seasons
« 1990
1992»

The 1991 NCAA Division I-AA football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division I-AA level, began in August 1991, and concluded with the 1991 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game on December 21, 1991, at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The Youngstown State Penguins won their first I-AA championship, defeating the Marshall Thundering Herd by a score of 25−17. [1]

Notable changes

Conference changes

School 1990 Conference 1991 Conference
Hofstra D-III Independent I-AA Independent
Nicholls State I-AA Independent Southland
Prairie View A&M Revived Program SWAC
Southeast Missouri State MIAA (D-II) Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1991 Big Sky Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Nevada $^ 8 0 0 12 1 0
No. 15 Weber State ^ 6 2 0 8 4 0
Montana 6 2 0 7 4 0
Eastern Washington 4 4 0 5 6 0
Idaho 4 4 0 6 5 0
Boise State 4 4 0 7 4 0
Idaho State 2 6 0 3 7 0
Northern Arizona 1 7 0 3 8 0
Montana State 1 7 0 2 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Poll
1991 Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Northern Iowa $^ 5 1 0 11 2 0
No. 14 Western Illinois ^ 4 2 0 7 4 1
Southern Illinois 4 2 0 7 4 0
Southwest Missouri State 3 3 0 6 4 1
Indiana State 2 4 0 5 6 0
Eastern Illinois 2 4 0 4 7 0
Illinois State 1 5 0 5 6 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Ivy League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Dartmouth $ 6 0 1 7 2 1
Princeton 5 2 0 8 2 0
Harvard 4 2 1 4 5 1
Yale 4 3 0 6 4 0
Cornell 4 3 0 5 5 0
Penn 2 5 0 2 8 0
Brown 1 6 0 1 9 0
Columbia 1 6 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1991 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Delaware State + 5 1 0 9 2 0
North Carolina A&T + 5 1 0 9 3 0
South Carolina State 3 3 0 7 4 0
Florida A&M 3 3 0 5 5 0
Bethune–Cookman 3 3 0 4 6 0
Howard 1 5 0 2 9 0
Morgan State 1 5 0 1 10 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1991 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Eastern Kentucky $^ 7 0 0 12 2 0
No. 9 Middle Tennessee ^ 6 1 0 9 4 0
Austin Peay 3 4 0 5 6 0
Morehead State 3 4 0 4 7 0
Southeast Missouri State 3 4 0 3 8 0
Tennessee State 2 5 0 3 8 0
Tennessee Tech 2 5 0 2 9 0
Murray State 1 6 0 3 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Patriot League football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Holy Cross $ 5 0 0 11 0 0
Lehigh 3 2 0 9 2 0
Lafayette 3 2 0 6 5 0
Colgate 3 2 0 4 7 0
Bucknell 1 4 0 1 9 0
Fordham 0 5 0 2 8 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 17 Appalachian State $^ 6 1 0 8 4 0
No. 8 Marshall ^ 5 2 0 11 4 0
No. T–20 The Citadel 5 2 0 7 4 0
No. T–20 Furman 4 3 0 7 4 0
Chattanooga 4 3 0 7 4 0
VMI 2 5 0 4 7 0
Western Carolina 2 5 0 2 9 0
East Tennessee State 0 7 0 1 10 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Southland Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 12 Sam Houston State +^ 5 2 0 8 3 1
No. 19 McNeese State +^ 4 1 2 6 4 2
No. 18 NE Louisiana 4 2 1 7 3 1
SW Texas State 4 3 0 7 4 0
Northwestern State 4 3 0 6 5 0
Nicholls State 2 5 0 4 7 0
North Texas 2 5 0 3 7 1
Stephen F. Austin 1 5 1 2 8 1
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Alabama State $ 6 0 1 11 0 1
Alcorn State 4 2 1 7 2 1
Southern 4 3 0 4 7 0
Texas Southern 3 3 1 5 5 1
Mississippi Valley State 3 3 1 7 3 1
Jackson State 3 4 0 5 5 0
Grambling State 3 4 0 5 6 0
Prairie View A&M 0 7 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 6 Delaware +^ 7 1 0 10 2 0
No. 7 Villanova +^ 7 1 0 10 2 0
No. 11 New Hampshire +^ 7 1 0 9 3 0
Rhode Island 3 5 0 6 5 0
UMass 3 5 0 4 7 0
Boston University 3 5 0 4 7 0
Maine 2 6 0 3 8 0
Connecticut 2 6 0 3 8 0
Richmond 2 6 0 2 9 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll
1991 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Samford ^     12 2 0
Hofstra     8 2 0
No. 16 James Madison ^     9 4 0
No. 13 Youngstown State ^     12 3 0
Georgia Southern     7 4 0
UCF     6 5 0
William & Mary     5 6 0
Liberty     4 7 0
Northeastern     4 7 0
Western Kentucky     3 8 0
Arkansas State     1 10 0
Towson     1 10 0
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Conference champions

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Nevada
Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference – Northern Iowa
Ivy League – Dartmouth
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina A&T
Ohio Valley Conference – Eastern Kentucky
Patriot League – Holy Cross
Southern Conference – Appalachian State
Southland Conference – McNeese State and Sam Houston State
Southwestern Athletic Conference – Alabama State
Yankee Conference – Delaware, New Hampshire, and Villanova

Postseason

Only the top four teams in the field were seeded, and thus assured of home games in their first round games. [2] The location of the final, the Georgia Southern Eagles' Paulson Stadium, had been predetermined via a three-year agreement the university reached with the NCAA in February 1989. [3]

NCAA Division I-AA playoff bracket

First Round
November 30
Campus sites
Quarterfinals
December 7
Campus sites
Semifinals
December 14
Campus sites
National Championship Game
December 21
Paulson Stadium
Statesboro, GA
        
McNeese State 16
(1) Nevada* 22
(1) Nevada* 28
Youngstown State 30
Villanova 16
Youngstown State* 17
Youngstown State* 10
Samford 0
James Madison 42**
(4) Delaware* 35
James Madison* 21
Samford 24
Samford 29
New Hampshire* 13
Youngstown State 25
Marshall 17
Appalachian State 3
(2) Eastern Kentucky* 14
(2) Eastern Kentucky* 23
Middle Tennessee State 13
Sam Houston State 19
Middle Tennessee* 20*
(2) Eastern Kentucky 7
Marshall* 14
Weber State 21
(3) Northern Iowa* 38
(3) Northern Iowa 13
Marshall* 41
Western Illinois 17
Marshall* 20*

* Next to team name denotes host institution
* Next to score denotes host overtime period
Source: [4] [5]

References

  1. ^ "1991 NCAA Division I Football Championship" (PDF). NCAA.org. p. 15. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "UNI to play Weber State in playoffs". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Iowa City, Iowa. AP. November 25, 1991. p. 5D. Retrieved April 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Georgia Southern to host NCAA title". Rocky Mount Telegram. Rocky Mount, North Carolina. AP. February 24, 1989. p. 11. Retrieved April 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Division I-AA Playoffs". Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. December 21, 1991. p. 2B. Retrieved April 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Youngstown 25, Marshall 17". Pittsburgh Press. December 22, 1991. p. D12. Retrieved April 19, 2019 – via newspapers.com.