Year Champion[8] Runner-up Score Venue Location Attendance Winning head coach
1978 Florida A&M UMass 35–28 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 13,604 Rudy Hubbard
1979 Eastern Kentucky Lehigh 30–7 Orlando Stadium Orlando, Florida 5,500 Roy Kidd
1980 Boise State Eastern Kentucky 31–29 Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California 8,157 Jim Criner
1981 Idaho State Eastern Kentucky 34–23 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 11,003 Dave Kragthorpe
1982 Eastern Kentucky (2) Delaware 17–14 Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, Texas 11,257 Roy Kidd (2)
1983 Southern Illinois Western Carolina 43–7 Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina 15,950 Rey Dempsey
1984 Montana State Louisiana Tech 19–6 Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, South Carolina 9,125 Dave Arnold
1985 Georgia Southern Furman 44–42 Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington 5,306 Erk Russell
1986 Georgia Southern (2) Arkansas State 48–21 Tacoma Dome Tacoma, Washington 4,419 Erk Russell (2)
1987 Northeast Louisiana† Marshall 43–42 Minidome Pocatello, Idaho 11,513 Pat Collins
1988 Furman Georgia Southern 17–12 Holt Arena Pocatello, Idaho 11,500 Jimmy Satterfield
1989 Georgia Southern (3) Stephen F. Austin 37–34 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 25,725 Erk Russell (3)
1990 Georgia Southern (4) Nevada 36–13 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 23,204 Tim Stowers
1991 Youngstown State Marshall 25–17 Paulson Stadium Statesboro, Georgia 12,667 Jim Tressel
1992 Marshall Youngstown State 31–28 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 31,304 Jim Donnan
1993 Youngstown State (2) Marshall 17–5 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 29,218 Jim Tressel (2)
1994 Youngstown State (3) Boise State 28–14 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 27,674 Jim Tressel (3)
1995 Montana Marshall 22–20 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 32,106 Don Read
1996 Marshall (2) Montana 49–29 Marshall University Stadium Huntington, West Virginia 30,052 Bob Pruett
1997 Youngstown State (4) McNeese State 10–9 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,771 Jim Tressel (4)
1998 UMass Georgia Southern 55–43 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,501 Mark Whipple
1999 Georgia Southern (5) Youngstown State 59–24 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,052 Paul Johnson
2000 Georgia Southern (6) Montana 27–25 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,156 Paul Johnson (2)
2001 Montana (2) Furman 13–6 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,698 Joe Glenn
2002 Western Kentucky McNeese State 34–14 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 12,360 Jack Harbaugh
2003 Delaware Colgate 40–0 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,281 K. C. Keeler
2004 James Madison Montana 31–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 16,771 Mickey Matthews
2005 Appalachian State Northern Iowa 21–16 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 20,236 Jerry Moore
2006 Appalachian State (2) UMass 28–17 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 22,808 Jerry Moore (2)
2007 Appalachian State (3) Delaware 49–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 23,010 Jerry Moore (3)
2008 Richmond Montana 24–7 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 17,823 Mike London
2009 Villanova Montana 23–21 Finley Stadium Chattanooga, Tennessee 14,328 Andy Talley
2010 Eastern Washington Delaware 20–19 Pizza Hut Park‡ Frisco, Texas 13,027 Beau Baldwin
2011 North Dakota State Sam Houston State 17–6 Pizza Hut Park‡ Frisco, Texas 20,586 Craig Bohl
2012 North Dakota State (2) Sam Houston State 39–13 FC Dallas Stadium‡ Frisco, Texas 21,411 Craig Bohl (2)
2013 North Dakota State (3) Towson 35–7 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 19,802 Craig Bohl (3)
2014 North Dakota State (4) Illinois State 29–27 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 20,918 Chris Klieman
2015 North Dakota State (5) Jacksonville State 37–10 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 21,836 Chris Klieman (2)
2016 James Madison (2) Youngstown State 28–14 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 14,423* Mike Houston
2017 North Dakota State (6) James Madison 17–13 Toyota Stadium Frisco, Texas 19,090* Chris Klieman (3)