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2005 NCAA Division I-A football season

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2005 NCAA Division I-A season
Texas team and coach Mack Brown with President George W. Bush after winning the 2005 national championship
Number of teams119
DurationSeptember 1 – December 3
Preseason AP No. 1USC
Postseason
DurationDecember 20, 2005 –
January 4, 2006
Bowl games28
Heisman TrophyReggie Bush (running back, USC)
Bowl Championship Series
2006 Rose Bowl
SiteRose Bowl Stadium,
Pasadena, California
Champion(s)Texas
Division I-A football seasons
← 2004
2006 →

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 1, 2005 and ended on December 3, 2005. The postseason concluded on January 4, 2006 with the Rose Bowl, which served as the season's BCS National Championship Game.

The USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns finished the regular season as the only undefeated teams in Division I-A and consequently met in the Rose Bowl to play for the national title. Texas defeated USC largely due to the performance of quarterback Vince Young, who gained 467 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns. The Longhorns won their first national championship since 1970, and their first consensus national title since 1969.

Rule changes

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  • After the Big Ten Conference's 2004 experiment with instant replay, its use was expanded to all but the Sun Belt and the WAC conferences in Division I-A. The rules varied between conferences (including the use of coaches' challenges similar to the NFL in the Mountain West Conference) until the NCAA standardized the rules in 2006. Replay was also permitted in bowl games and, provided the visiting team agreed to its use, in non-conference regular season games.
  • The protection for a receiver who signals a fair catch includes situations when the ball is muffed until it hits the ground.
  • Penalties for spearing or similar hits in which the tackler leads with the crown of the head are enforced regardless of the "intent" of the tackler.
  • The penalty for leaping on field goals/PATs now states it is a foul if a player lined up more than one yard behind the line of scrimmage jumps and lands on players of any team trying to block the kick. If lined up one yard or closer to the line, it is not a foul.
  • Eliminated the "legal clipping zone"; hits from behind below the knee are prohibited anywhere on the field.
  • Provided for officials a specific list of acts by players considered unsportsmanlike conduct, including the "throat slash", high stepping and diving into the end zone unchallenged among others. Spontaneous celebrations by players are allowed provided they are not prolonged, taunting, or bring attention to themselves.

Conference changes

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Main article: 2005 NCAA conference realignment

A major conference realignment occurred prior to the 2005 season, when 18 teams in Division I-A changed conferences.

Temple was expelled from the Big East Conference while Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA, resulting in both schools becoming Independents.

Boston College left the Big East to become the 12th member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), allowing the league to split into two divisions and hold an annual championship game.

Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East. Texas Christian University also left Conference USA to become the Mountain West Conference's ninth member.

Despite its losses, Conference USA added six schools to increase its membership to twelve, poaching Marshall and UCF from the Mid-American Conference and Rice, Southern Methodist, Tulsa, and UTEP from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Like the ACC, Conference USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.

The Western Athletic Conference added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference.

The Sun Belt picked up I-A Independents Florida Atlantic and Florida International.

School 2004 Conference 2005 Conference
Army Black Knights Conference USA I-A Independent
Boston College Eagles Big East ACC
Central Florida Knights MAC Conference USA
Cincinnati Bearcats Conference USA Big East
Louisville Cardinals Conference USA Big East
Marshall Thundering Herd MAC Conference USA
Florida Atlantic Owls I-A Independent Sun Belt
Florida International Panthers I-A Independent Sun Belt
Idaho Vandals Sun Belt WAC
New Mexico State Aggies Sun Belt WAC
Rice Owls WAC Conference USA
South Florida Bulls Conference USA Big East
SMU Mustangs WAC Conference USA
Temple Owls Big East Conference I-A Independent
TCU Horned Frogs Conference USA Mountain West
Tulsa Golden Hurricane WAC Conference USA
Utah State Aggies Sun Belt WAC
UTEP Miners WAC Conference USA

Coaching changes

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Steve Spurrier, in sunglasses
Steve Spurrier as coach at the University of Florida

Steve Spurrier returned to college coaching for the first time since 2001 after a stint in the NFL, leading South Carolina to a respectable 7–5 season. Urban Meyer, after leading Utah to an undefeated season in 2004, took over at Florida (Spurrier's old school). Charlie Weis left the New England Patriots to become head coach at alma mater Notre Dame, taking the team to a BCS bowl.

Longtime head coaches Barry Alvarez of Wisconsin and Bill Snyder of Kansas State, both of whom took struggling programs to national prominence during their tenures, retired. Dan Hawkins, having helped make Boise State a powerhouse in the Western Athletic Conference, left the Broncos to coach struggling Colorado.

Regular season top 10 matchups

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Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.

Conference standings

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2005 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Atlantic Division
No. 23 Florida State xy$   5 – 3     8 – 5  
No. 18 Boston College x   5 – 3     9 – 3  
No. 21 Clemson   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Wake Forest   3 – 5     4 – 7  
NC State   3 – 5     7 – 5  
Maryland   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Coastal Division
No. 7 Virginia Tech x   7 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 17 Miami (FL)   6 – 2     9 – 3  
Georgia Tech   5 – 3     7 – 5  
North Carolina   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Virginia   3 – 5     7 – 5  
Duke   0 – 8     1 – 10  
Championship: Florida State 27, Virginia Tech 22
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Big 12 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
North Division
Colorado x   5 – 3     7 – 6  
No. 24 Nebraska   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Missouri   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Iowa State   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Kansas   3 – 5     7 – 5  
Kansas State   2 – 6     5 – 6  
South Division
No. 1 Texas x$#   8 – 0     13 – 0  
No. 20 Texas Tech   6 – 2     9 – 3  
No. 22 Oklahoma   6 – 2     8 – 4  
Texas A&M   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Baylor   2 – 6     5 – 6  
Oklahoma State   1 – 7     4 – 7  
Championship: Texas 70, Colorado 3
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Big East Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 5 West Virginia $   7 – 0     11 – 1  
No. 19 Louisville   5 – 2     9 – 3  
Rutgers   4 – 3     7 – 5  
South Florida   4 – 3     6 – 6  
Pittsburgh   4 – 3     5 – 6  
Connecticut   2 – 5     5 – 6  
Cincinnati   2 – 5     4 – 7  
Syracuse   0 – 7     1 – 10  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 Penn State $+   7 – 1     11 – 1  
No. 4 Ohio State %+   7 – 1     10 – 2  
No. 15 Wisconsin   5 – 3     10 – 3  
Michigan   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Northwestern   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Iowa   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Minnesota   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Purdue   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Michigan State   2 – 6     5 – 6  
Indiana   1 – 7     4 – 7  
Illinois   0 – 8     2 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Conference USA football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
UCF x   7 – 1     8 – 5  
Southern Miss   5 – 3     7 – 5  
Memphis   5 – 3     7 – 5  
East Carolina   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Marshall   3 – 5     4 – 7  
UAB   3 – 5     5 – 6  
West Division
Tulsa x$   6 – 2     9 – 4  
UTEP   5 – 3     8 – 4  
Houston   4 – 4     6 – 6  
SMU   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Tulane   1 – 7     2 – 9  
Rice   1 – 7     1 – 10  
Championship: Tulsa 44, UCF 27
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Mid-American Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
Akron xy$   5 – 3     7 – 6  
Miami (OH) x   5 – 3     7 – 4  
Bowling Green x   5 – 3     6 – 5  
Ohio   3 – 5     4 – 7  
Buffalo   1 – 7     1 – 10  
Kent State   0 – 8     1 – 10  
West Division
Northern Illinois xy   6 – 2     7 – 5  
Toledo x   6 – 2     9 – 3  
Western Michigan   5 – 3     7 – 4  
Central Michigan   5 – 3     6 – 5  
Ball State   4 – 4     4 – 7  
Eastern Michigan   3 – 5     4 – 7  
Championship: Akron 31, NIU 30
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
2005 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 11 TCU $   8 – 0     11 – 1  
BYU   5 – 3     6 – 6  
Colorado State   5 – 3     6 – 6  
Utah   4 – 4     7 – 5  
New Mexico   4 – 4     6 – 5  
San Diego State   4 – 4     5 – 7  
Air Force   3 – 5     4 – 7  
Wyoming   2 – 6     4 – 7  
UNLV   1 – 7     2 – 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 USC † $   8 – 0     12 – 1  
No. 13 Oregon   7 – 1     10 – 2  
No. 16 UCLA   6 – 2     10 – 2  
No. 25 California   4 – 4     8 – 4  
Arizona State   4 – 4     7 – 5  
Stanford   4 – 4     5 – 6  
Oregon State   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Arizona   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Washington State   1 – 7     4 – 7  
Washington   1 – 7     2 – 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • † – USC later vacated 12 wins (8 in conference) and 1 loss due to NCAA sanctions.
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 10 Georgia x$   6 – 2     10 – 3  
South Carolina   5 – 3     7 – 5  
No. 12 Florida   5 – 3     9 – 3  
Vanderbilt   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Tennessee   3 – 5     5 – 6  
Kentucky   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Western Division
No. 5 LSU xy   7 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 14 Auburn x   7 – 1     9 – 3  
No. 8 Alabama   6 – 2     10 – 2  
Arkansas   2 – 6     4 – 7  
Mississippi State   1 – 7     3 – 8  
Ole Miss   1 – 7     3 – 8  
Championship: Georgia 34, LSU 14
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • Alabama had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–2 (0–2).
Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Sun Belt Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Arkansas State +   5 – 2     6 – 6  
Louisiana–Lafayette +   5 – 2     6 – 5  
Louisiana–Monroe +   5 – 2     5 – 6  
Middle Tennessee   3 – 4     4 – 7  
Troy   3 – 4     4 – 7  
Florida Atlantic   2 – 5     2 – 9  
North Texas   2 – 5     2 – 9  
FIU†   0 – 4     0 – 6  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • † – The NCAA vacated all 5 of FIU's (3–4, 5–6) wins
2005 Western Athletic Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Boise State +   7 – 1     9 – 4  
Nevada +   7 – 1     9 – 3  
Louisiana Tech   6 – 2     7 – 4  
Fresno State   6 – 2     8 – 5  
Hawaii   4 – 4     5 – 7  
San Jose State   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Utah State   2 – 6     3 – 8  
Idaho   2 – 6     2 – 9  
New Mexico State   0 – 8     0 – 12  
  • + – Conference co-champions
2005 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
Conf. Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 9 Notre Dame  %   –     9 – 3  
Navy   –     8 – 4  
Army   –     4 – 7  
Temple   –     0 – 11  
  • % – BCS at-large representative
Rankings from AP Poll

I-AA team wins over I-A teams

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Italics denotes I-AA teams.

Date Visiting team Home team Site Result Attendance Ref.
September 1 Northwestern State UL Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana (rivalry)  27–23   21,726 [1]
September 17 UC Davis Stanford Stanford Stadium • Stanford, California  20–18   31,250 [1]
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Bowl games

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Main article: 2005–06 NCAA football bowl games

BCS bowls

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Rankings are pre-bowl-game AP rankings.

Other New Year's Day bowls

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December bowl games

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Awards and honors

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Heisman Trophy

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Heisman Trophy voting was primarily for three players: Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart (who won the trophy in 2004) and Vince Young. Bush won the trophy, with Young (who helped Texas win their first national championship since 1970) second in the voting:

Player School Position 1st 2nd 3rd Total
Reggie Bush USC RB 784 89 11 2,541
Vince Young Texas QB 79 613 145 1,608
Matt Leinart USC QB 18 147 449 797
Brady Quinn Notre Dame QB 7 21 128 191
Michael Robinson Penn State QB 2 7 29 49
A. J. Hawk Ohio State LB 0 3 23 29
DeAngelo Williams Memphis RB 1 2 19 26
Drew Olson UCLA QB 1 2 14 21
Jerome Harrison Washington State RB 0 4 12 20
Elvis Dumervil Louisville DE 0 0 9 9

In June 2010 the NCAA ruled that Bush had received "improper benefits", violating NCAA policy. On September 14, he announced in a statement from the New Orleans Saints that he would forfeit his 2005 Heisman Trophy. Runner-up Vince Young said that he would not accept the trophy if Bush forfeited it. On September 15, the Heisman Trust announced that the 2005 trophy would be vacated and there would be no winner for the season.[2] Bush's Heisman win would be reinstanted on April 24, 2024, with the Heisman Trophy Trust citing "enormous" changes in college athletics, including the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) a few years prior.[3]

Major award winners

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All-Americans

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Main article: 2005 College Football All-America Team

2005 Consensus All-America team

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Offense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Vince Young 6'5" 229 Jr. Houston, Texas Texas
RB Reggie Bush 6'0" 200 Jr. Spring Valley, California USC
RB Jerome Harrison 5'10" 199 Sr. Kalamazoo, Michigan Washington State
WR Dwayne Jarrett 6'5" 210 So. New Brunswick, New Jersey USC
WR Jeff Samardzija 6'5" 218 Jr. Valparaiso, Indiana Notre Dame
TE Marcedes Lewis 6'6" 256 Sr. Lakewood, California UCLA
T Jonathan Scott 6'7" 315 Sr. Dallas, Texas Texas
T Marcus McNeill 6'9" 338 Sr. Decatur, Georgia Auburn
G Deuce Lutui 6'6" 370 Sr. Mesa, Arizona USC
G Max Jean-Gilles 6'4" 355 Sr. North Miami Beach, Florida Georgia
C Greg Eslinger 6'3" 292 Sr. Bismarck, North Dakota Minnesota
Defense
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
DE Tamba Hali 6'3" 275 Sr. Teaneck, New Jersey Penn State
DT Haloti Ngata 6'4" 338 Sr. Salt Lake City, Utah Oregon
DT Rodrique Wright 6'5" 315 Sr. Houston, Texas Texas
DE Elvis Dumervil 6'0" 256 Sr. Miami, Florida Louisville
LB A. J. Hawk 6'1" 248 Sr. Centerville, Ohio Ohio State
LB DeMeco Ryans 6'1" 236 Sr. Bessemer, Alabama Alabama
LB Paul Posluszny 6'2" 238 Jr. Hopewell Township, Pennsylvania Penn State
CB Jimmy Williams 6'3" 216 Sr. Hampton, Virginia Virginia Tech
CB Tye Hill 5'10" 185 Sr. Dorchester, South Carolina Clemson
Safety Michael Huff 6'0" 204 Sr. Irving, Texas Texas
Safety Greg Blue 6'2" 216 Sr. Atlanta Georgia
Special teams
Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
Kicker Mason Crosby 6'2" 215 Jr. Georgetown, Texas Colorado
Punter Ryan Plackemeier 6'3" 235 Sr. Bonsall, California Wake Forest
RS Maurice Drew 5'8" 205 Jr. Antioch, California UCLA

Highest-scoring team

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Texas scored the most points (652).[6][7]

Attendances

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# Team G Total Average
1 Michigan 7 776,405 110,915
2 Tennessee 6 645,558 107,593
3 Ohio State 7 735,120 105,017
4 Penn State 7 734,013 104,859
5 Georgia 6 556,206 92,701
6 LSU 6 549,480 91,580
7 Southern California 6 544,872 90,812
8 Florida 6 542,435 90,406
9 Oklahoma 6 505,984 84,331
10 Auburn 7 589,124 84,161
11 Texas 5 416,663 83,333
12 Florida State 6 496,343 82,724
13 Wisconsin 6 495,308 82,551
14 Alabama 7 567,126 81,018
15 Notre Dame 6 484,770 80,795
16 South Carolina 7 559,071 79,867
17 Texas A&M 6 478,389 79,732
18 Clemson 6 469,391 78,232
19 Nebraska 7 542,397 77,485
20 Michigan State 6 451,097 75,183
21 Iowa 6 423,510 70,585
22 Virginia Tech 6 390,690 65,115
23 Washington 6 385,957 64,326
24 UCLA 6 385,305 64,218
25 Arkansas 6 382,070 63,678
26 Purdue 6 377,977 62,996
27 Kentucky 6 374,697 62,450
28 Arizona State 7 428,096 61,157
29 Virginia 6 365,836 60,973
30 California 6 362,263 60,377
31 Oregon 6 350,602 58,434
32 BYU 6 349,222 58,204
33 West Virginia 6 337,720 56,287
34 Mississippi 6 325,348 54,225
35 Arizona 6 321,676 53,613
36 Missouri 6 320,181 53,364
37 North Carolina State 7 370,476 52,925
38 Maryland 5 262,129 52,426
39 North Carolina 6 310,000 51,667
40 Georgia Tech 6 309,644 51,607
41 Texas Tech 7 356,802 50,972
42 Colorado 6 302,452 50,409
43 Minnesota 6 294,147 49,025
44 UTEP 6 287,394 47,899
45 Illinois 6 287,113 47,852
46 Mississippi State 6 286,127 47,688
47 Iowa State 6 280,232 46,705
48 Kansas State 6 275,767 45,961
49 Miami Hurricanes 6 271,862 45,310
50 Oklahoma State 6 269,163 44,861
51 Kansas 6 262,051 43,675
52 Stanford 6 261,301 43,550
53 Oregon State 6 253,140 42,190
54 Utah 6 249,215 41,536
55 Louisville 6 246,007 41,001
56 Pittsburgh 6 241,630 40,272
57 Syracuse 6 241,510 40,252
58 Connecticut 6 240,000 40,000
59 Memphis 6 239,946 39,991
60 Indiana 6 237,214 39,536
61 Boston College 6 236,572 39,429
62 Fresno State 6 235,839 39,307
63 Baylor 5 194,493 38,899
64 South Florida 5 194,325 38,865
65 New Mexico 5 191,707 38,341
66 San Diego State 6 217,339 36,223
67 Vanderbilt 6 216,187 36,031
68 Air Force 5 179,906 35,981
69 Rutgers 6 199,101 33,184
70 East Carolina 5 165,230 33,046
71 Navy 5 165,066 33,013
72 Hawaii 7 229,142 32,735
73 Northwestern 6 195,163 32,527
74 TCU 5 156,268 31,254
75 Washington State 5 155,547 31,109
76 Army 6 185,611 30,935
77 Boise State 7 210,781 30,112
78 Colorado State 5 146,737 29,347
79 Wake Forest 6 173,544 28,924
80 UCF 5 142,311 28,462
81 Southern Miss 5 139,312 27,862
82 Marshall 6 159,062 26,510
83 Tulsa 5 114,132 22,826
84 Cincinnati 5 112,113 22,423
85 Northern Illinois 5 110,880 22,176
86 Toledo 5 109,086 21,817
87 Wyoming 5 103,252 20,650
88 UAB 5 100,506 20,101
89 UNLV 5 99,570 19,914
90 Troy 5 97,125 19,425
91 Western Michigan 5 94,530 18,906
92 SMU 6 111,780 18,630
93 Arkansas State 6 110,288 18,381
94 Ohio 5 90,167 18,033
95 Louisiana-Lafayette 5 87,957 17,591
96 Duke 6 104,915 17,486
97 North Texas 5 82,232 16,446
98 Louisiana Tech 5 82,080 16,416
99 Central Michigan 5 79,855 15,971
100 Miami RedHawks 5 76,203 15,241
101 Idaho 4 60,700 15,175
102 Nevada 6 90,458 15,076
103 Houston 6 90,324 15,054
104 Bowling Green 5 74,644 14,929
105 Louisiana-Monroe 5 73,084 14,617
106 Middle Tennessee 5 72,629 14,526
107 Tulane 6 85,450 14,242
108 Ball State 4 51,810 12,953
109 Temple 5 63,674 12,735
110 New Mexico State 6 75,339 12,557
111 San Jose State 5 62,529 12,506
112 Utah State 5 54,482 10,896
113 Akron 5 54,464 10,893
114 Rice 5 50,362 10,072
115 Buffalo 5 44,572 8,914
116 Kent State 5 33,292 6,658
117 Eastern Michigan 4 20,874 5,219

Source:[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams". NCAA.com. September 7, 2025. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  2. ^ "Heisman Trust: 2005 award will be vacated". Chicago Tribune. September 15, 2010. Archived from the original on September 19, 2010. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
  3. ^ Martin, Jill (April 24, 2024). "Reggie Bush getting 2005 Heisman Trophy back, Heisman Trust cites 'enormous changes in college athletics'". CNN. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Vacated due to ineligibility.
  5. ^ The AP does not vacate titles removed ineligible teams or players.
  6. ^ 2005 College Football Team Offense (Sports Reference)
  7. ^ 2005 Texas Longhorns Stats (Sports-Reference)
  8. ^ "2005 NATIONAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE (For All NCAA Men's Varsity Teams)" (PDF).
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