The 2002 Carroll Fighting Saints football team was an American football team that represented Carroll College as a member of the Frontier Conference during the 2002 NAIA football season. In their fourth season under head coach Mike Van Diest, the Saints compiled a 12–2 record (7–1 against conference opponents) and won the NAIA national championship, defeating Georgetown (Kentucky), 28–7, in the NAIA National Championship Game.[1] It was the first of six national championships between 2002 and 2010.
| 2002 Carroll Fighting Saints football | |
|---|---|
NAIA national champion Frontier champion | |
NAIA National Championship Game, W 28–7 vs. Georgetown (KY) | |
| Conference | Frontier Conference |
| Record | 12–2 (7–1 Frontier) |
| Head coach |
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| Home stadium | Nelson Field |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 Carroll (MT) $^ | 7 | – | 1 | 12 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Montana Western ^ | 7 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana Tech | 3 | – | 5 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocky Mountain | 2 | – | 6 | 2 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Montana State–Northern | 1 | – | 7 | 1 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The team played its home games at Nelson Field at Helena, Montana.
Schedule
edit| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance | Source | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 7 | Rocky Mountain |
| W 20–3 | ||||
| September 14 | Central Washington * |
| L 8–26 | ||||
| September 28 | MSU Northern | Havre, MT | W 37–0 | ||||
| October 5 | Montana Tech |
| W 28–7 | ||||
| October 12 | at Rocky Mountain | Billings, MT | W 31–7 | ||||
| October 19 | Montana Western | Dillon, MT | W 36–21 | ||||
| October 26 | at Eastern Oregon* | La Grande, OR | W 44–13 | ||||
| November 2 | MSU Northern |
| W 47–14 | ||||
| November 11 | at Montana Tech | Butte, MT | W 7–2 | ||||
| November 16 | Montana Western |
| L 17–35 | [2] | |||
| November 23 | at Dickinson State* | Dickinson, ND (NAIA first round) | W 42–23 | [3] | |||
| November 30 | Southern Oregon* |
| W 35–31 | [4] | |||
| December 7 | at Sioux Falls* | Sioux Falls, SD (NAIA semifinal) | W 20–17 | [5] | |||
| December 21 | vs. Georgetown (KY)* | W 28–7 | 5,878 | [6] | |||
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References
edit- ^ "2002 National Championship Football". Carroll College. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
- ^ "Bulldogs bite Carroll". The Independent Record. November 17, 2002. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Saints move on". The Independent Record. November 24, 2002. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Saints rally past SOU". The Independent Record. December 1, 2002. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "On to Tennessee". The Independent Record. December 8, 2002. pp. 1B, 3B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tigers title try tackled". The Jackson Sun. December 22, 2002. p. 10B – via Newspapers.com.