2005 NCAA Division I-A football season

American college football season January 2012 August 2023 December 2025 2005 George W. Bush and Mack Brown with the 2005 Texas Longhorn football team.jpg Texas Longhorns and head coach Mack Brown with President George W. Bush after winning the national championship 119 USC September 1 – December 3 28 December 20, 2005 January 4, 2006 Bowl Championship Series 2006 Rose Bowl Rose Bowl Stadium,Pasadena, California Texas USC running back Reggie Bush 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 1969.3 Rule changes 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 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 thumb|124x124px|alt=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 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. Week 2 No. 2 Texas defeated No. 4 Ohio State, 25–22 (Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio) Week 3 No. 6 Florida defeated No. 5 Tennessee, 16–7 (Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, Florida) Week 4 No. 10 Tennessee defeated No. 4 LSU, 30–27 OT (Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana) Week 6 No. 5 Georgia defeated No. 8 Tennessee, 27–14 (Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tennessee) Week 7 No. 1 USC defeated No. 9 Notre Dame, 34–31 (Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend, Indiana) Week 8 No. 2/2 Texas defeated No. 7/10 Texas Tech, 52–17 (Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, Texas) Week 10 No. 6/5 Miami defeated No. 3/3 Virginia Tech, 27–7 (Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia) Week 11 No. 7/5 LSU defeated No. 3/4 Alabama, 16–13 OT (Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama) Conference standings I-AA team wins over I-A teams Italics denotes I-AA teams. no no September 1 no Northwestern State UL Monroe Malone Stadium Monroe, Louisiana rivalry no 27–23 21,726 FCS wins vs. FBS teams: All-time victories, upsets, wins vs. ranked teams https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/fcs-wins-vs-fbs-teams-all-time-victories-upsets NCAA.com September 7, 2025 October 2, 2025 September 17 no UC Davis Stanford Stanford Stadium Stanford, California no 20–18 31,250 Bowl games 2005–06 NCAA football bowl games BCS bowls Rankings are pre-bowl-game AP rankings. Rose Bowl: No. 2 (BCS No. 2, Big 12 Champ) Texas 41, No. 1 (BCS No. 1, Pac 10 Champ) Southern California 38 Fiesta Bowl: (BCS No. 4) No. 4 Ohio State 34, (At Large) No. 5 Notre Dame 20 Sugar Bowl: (Big East Champ) No. 11 West Virginia 38, (SEC Champ) No. 8 Georgia 35 Orange Bowl: (Big Ten Champ) No. 3 Penn State 26, (ACC Champ) No. 22 Florida State 23 (3 OT) Other New Year's Day bowls Cotton Bowl: No. 13 Alabama 13, No. 18 Texas Tech 10 Capital One Bowl: No. 21 Wisconsin 24, No. 7 Auburn 10 Gator Bowl: No. 12 Virginia Tech 35, No. 15 Louisville 24 Outback Bowl: No. 16 Florida 31, No. 25 Iowa 24 December bowl games Peach Bowl: No. 10 LSU 40, No. 9 Miami (FL) 3 Houston Bowl: No. 14 TCU 27, Iowa State 24 Liberty Bowl: (C-USA Champ) Tulsa 31, Fresno State 24 MPC Computers Bowl: No. 19 Boston College 27, Boise State 21 Meineke Car Care Bowl: NC State 14, South Florida 0 Independence Bowl: Missouri 38, South Carolina 31 Sun Bowl: No. 17 UCLA 50, Northwestern 38 Music City Bowl: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31 Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma 17, No. 6 Oregon 14 Emerald Bowl: Utah 38, No. 24 Georgia Tech 10 Alamo Bowl: Nebraska 32, No. 20 Michigan 28 Insight Bowl: Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40 Champs Sports Bowl: No. 23 Clemson 19, Colorado 10 Motor City Bowl: Memphis 38, (MAC Champ) Akron 31 Hawai'i Bowl: (WAC Champ) Nevada 49, UCF 48 (OT) Fort Worth Bowl: Kansas 42, Houston 13 Las Vegas Bowl: California 35, BYU 28 Poinsettia Bowl: Navy 51, Colorado State 30 GMAC Bowl: Toledo 45, UTEP 13 New Orleans Bowl: Southern Mississippi 31, (Sun Belt Champ) Arkansas State 19 Awards and honors Heisman Trophy 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 TotalReggie BushUSCRB78489112,541 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.http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/09/heisman-trust-2005-award-will-be-vacated.html Heisman Trust: 2005 award will be vacated Chicago Tribune September 15, 2010 16 September 2010 https://web.archive.org/web/20100919192215/http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/09/heisman-trust-2005-award-will-be-vacated.html 19 September 2010 dead 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.Martin Jill April 24, 2024 Reggie Bush getting 2005 Heisman Trophy back, Heisman Trust cites 'enormous changes in college athletics' https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/24/sport/reggie-bush-heisman-reinstated-usc-spt-intl/index.html April 24, 2024 CNN Major award winners Walter Camp Award (top player): Reggie BushVacated due to ineligibility. Maxwell Award (top player): Vince Young, QB, Texas AP Player Of the Year: Reggie Bush, RB, USCThe AP does not vacate titles for ineligible teams or players. Lombardi Award (top lineman/linebacker): A. J. Hawk, Ohio State John Mackey Award (tight end): Marcedes Lewis, UCLA Doak Walker Award (running back) Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player): Paul Posluszny, LB, Penn State Outland Trophy (interior lineman): Greg Eslinger, C, Minnesota Dave Rimington Trophy (center): Greg Eslinger, Minnesota Davey O'Brien Award (quarterback): Vince Young, QB, Texas Johnny Unitas Award (senior quarterback): Matt Leinart, USC Fred Biletnikoff Award (wide receiver): Mike Hass, Oregon State Jim Thorpe Award (defensive back): Michael Huff, Texas Lou Groza Award (placekicker): Alexis Serna, Oregon State Ray Guy Award (punter): Ryan Plackemeier, Wake Forest The Home Depot Coach of the Year Award: Joe Paterno, Penn State Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (head coach): Mack Brown, Texas Broyles Award (assistant coach): Greg Davis, Texas All-Americans 2005 College Football All-America Team 2005 Consensus All-America team + OffensePositionNameHeightWeight (lbs.)ClassHometownTeamQBVince Young6'5"229Jr.Houston, TexasTexasRBReggie Bush6'0"200Jr.Spring Valley, CaliforniaUSCRBJerome Harrison5'10"199Sr.Kalamazoo, MichiganWashington StateWRDwayne Jarrett6'5"210So.New Brunswick, New JerseyUSCWRJeff Samardzija6'5"218Jr.Valparaiso, IndianaNotre DameTEMarcedes Lewis6'6"256Sr.Lakewood, CaliforniaUCLATJonathan Scott6'7"315Sr.Dallas, TexasTexasTMarcus McNeill6'9"338Sr.Decatur, GeorgiaAuburnGDeuce Lutui6'6"370Sr.Mesa, ArizonaUSCGMax Jean-Gilles6'4"355Sr.North Miami Beach, FloridaGeorgiaCGreg Eslinger6'3"292Sr.Bismarck, North DakotaMinnesota + DefensePositionNameHeightWeight (lbs.)ClassHometownTeamDETamba Hali6'3"275Sr.Teaneck, New JerseyPenn StateDTHaloti Ngata6'4"338Sr.Salt Lake City, UtahOregonDTRodrique Wright6'5"315Sr.Houston, TexasTexasDEElvis Dumervil6'0"256Sr.Miami, FloridaLouisvilleLBA. J. Hawk6'1"248Sr.Centerville, OhioOhio StateLBDeMeco Ryans6'1"236Sr.Bessemer, AlabamaAlabamaLBPaul Posluszny6'2"238Jr.Hopewell Township, PennsylvaniaPenn StateCBJimmy Williams6'3"216Sr.Hampton, VirginiaVirginia TechCBTye Hill5'10"185Sr.Dorchester, South CarolinaClemsonSafetyMichael Huff6'0"204Sr.Irving, TexasTexasSafetyGreg Blue6'2"216Sr.AtlantaGeorgia + Special teamsPositionNameHeightWeight (lbs.)ClassHometownTeamKickerMason Crosby6'2"215Jr.Georgetown, TexasColoradoPunterRyan Plackemeier6'3"235Sr.Bonsall, CaliforniaWake ForestRSMaurice Drew5'8"205Jr.Antioch, CaliforniaUCLA Highest-scoring team Texas scored the most points (652).2005 College Football Team Offense (Sports Reference)2005 Texas Longhorns Stats (Sports-Reference) Attendances # 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:2005 NATIONAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE (For All NCAA Men's Varsity Teams) http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/Attendance/2005.pdf References