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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/featheeeer on 2025-12-16 15:15:16+00:00.
Around this time last year there was a lot of talk about home playoff games and how exciting they are for the CFP, but the FCS has always had on-campus playoff games. If you get a chance you should tune in to the semi-finals this Saturday when #2 Montana State hosts #3 Montana at 4pm EST on ABC and #12 Villanova hosts Illinois State at 7:30pm EST on ESPN2. This is the first time Montana State and Montana have ever met in the playoffs and is absolutely must-watch television. Until then, here is another classic FCS semi-final matchup:
Back in 2009, before Appalachian State had moved up to the FBS, they were a perennial powerhouse in the FCS. From 2005 to 2007, they won three straight FCS national championships. Some of you may even remember their upset against #5 Michigan in 2007, led by star quarterback and two-time Walter Payton Award winner (FCS’s version of the Heisman) Armanti Edwards. After losing in the quarterfinals to Richmond in 2008 (who went on to beat Montana to win it all), they were back in 2009 for Edwards’ senior season ranked #5 with a chance to return to the national championship game. All that stood in their way was a trip to Missoula to take on the #1 Montana Grizzlies and their vaunted defense.
Not only was this one of the hardest hitting games I have ever witnessed (see this hit: youtu.be/rBgu7GtFhGY), it was one of the most electric atmospheres in Washington-Grizzly Stadium history (pregame: youtu.be/VhvOqQA3MBU?t=117, there are other videos on youtube of varying quality but none of the videos do it any justice). ESPN even brought in stadium lights for a night game because the stadium didn’t have permanent ones yet.
There was also a plethora of future NFL draft picks on both rosters:
App State - Armanti Edwards, QB, 3rd round 2010, Mark LeGree, DB, 5th round 2011, Daniel Kilgore, G, 5th round 2011, DJ Smith, LB, 6th round 2011, and Brian Quick, WR, 2nd round 2012.
Montana - Shann Schillinger, DB, 6th round 2010, Marc Mariani, WR, 7th round 2010, Jimmy Wilson, DB, 7th round 2011, Trumaine Johnson, DB, 3rd round 2012, Caleb McSurdy, LB, 7th round 2012.
As the sun began to set and the snow began to pile up on the field, so too did Chase Reynold’s rushing yards. A late touchdown pass by Montana with 1:30 left to go put them ahead 24-17. But did they leave too much time for Armanti Edwards? The rowdy stadium was on edge as one of the greatest quarterbacks in FCS history got the ball back with a chance to tie the game. A couple of big passes puts them in the redzone as time starts to dwindle… Will the Grizzly defense hold? Final four minutes: youtu.be/G0ZDVRNfP_s