The third-ranked Montana Grizzlies downed fifth-ranked Appalachian State 24-17 an an FCS semifinal playoff game on Saturday at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The Griz (14-0) will face Villanova in Friday's FCS championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 6 p.m. It will be Montana's sixth trip to the title game. The Griz came home with the national championship in 1995 and 2001.

The Griz struck first on a 39-yard TD burst by Chase Reynolds. After stopping the Mountaineers on fourth-and-5, the Griz drove 63 yards in seven plays to take the lead with 7:50 to play in the opening quarter.

Appalachian State, which finished its season at 11-3, tied the game at 7-7 by putting together an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive early in the second quarter. Under heavy pressure, App State quarterback Armanti Edwards got the ball to Brian Quick for a 34-yard gain to the UM 3-yard line. Devon Moore got the final 3 yards for the score.

Appalachian State took a 10-7 lead on a 46-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris with 5:16 to play before intermission. The field goal capped a 10-play, penalty-plagued drive.

Montana's first drive of the second half was all Reynolds. The Drummond product caught a swing pass for 24 yards and rushed for 24 more, getting the final 7 yards for the TD to put Montana ahead 14-10 with 13:22 to play in the third quarter.

The Mountaineers went back ahead following an interception by Jacque Roman, who returned the ball to the 50-yard line. Appalachian used nine plays to move 50 yards, capped by 1-yard run by Moore to put the Mountaineers on top 17-14 with 3:52 to play in the third quarter.

The Griz came right back to tie the game at 17-17 on a 32-yard field goal by Brody McKnight. Behind the hard running of Reynolds, the Griz drove the ball 61 yards before stalling on the App State 15-yard line.

After holding App State to a failed field goal attempt, the Griz drove 73 yards, capped by a 25-yard scoring pass from Selle to Jabin Sambrano to take a 24-17 lead with 1:30 to play. Sambrano made a spectacular grab along the sideline in the end zone.

App State's final drive ended on the UM 4-yard line. With one second left, Edwards threw to Quick, but the pass was broken up in the end zone by Trumaine Johnson.

Buffalo coach and former Nebraska quarterback Turner Gill appears to be the choice as the new coach at Kansas.

ESPN.com's Joe Schad is reporting that two sources briefed on the situation have said that Gill is the choice to replace Mark Mangino.

Gill has appeared to be the favorite for the job since Mangino resigned on Dec. 3.

In a lot of ways, Gill appears to be a 180-degree departure from Mangino, whose coaching and discipline tactics were blasted by several former and current players.

Gill has the reputation of being a popular coach among players. His daughter, Jordan, is a Kansas student who works in the athletic department offices.

His career record is 20-30 in a four-season stint as Buffalo's head coach. Gill directed the Bulls to the International Bowl last season, but Buffalo missed a bowl trip in a 5-7 season in 2009.

Earlier, he served as an assistant coach at Nebraska from 1992-2004 and with the Green Bay Packers in 2005.

The former Nebraska player has a lot of name recognition that resonates throughout the Big 12 area.

The fact he grew up in Fort Worth and has some existing connections with Texas high-school coaches will be critical in his attempts to build his program. Mangino did a good job of attracting under-recruiting prospects from Texas like Todd Reesing, Dezmon Briscoe and Maxwell Onyegbule.

Gill will have to do that and more as he attempts to match Mangino's record of notching back-to-back bowl trips in 2007 and 2008 for the first time in school history.

It will be a tough chore with Bo Pelini having his alma mater pointed in the right direction at Nebraska. Arch-rival Missouri appears to be in good shape with Blaine Gabbert as the quarterback for the next two seasons.