2005 NCAA Division I-A football season

2005 NCAA Division I-A season
Texas team and coach Mack Brown with president George W. Bush, after winning the 2005 national championship
Total # of teams	119
Preseason AP #1	USC Trojans
Regular season	September 1–December 3
Number of bowls	28 (+5 All-Star)
Bowl games	December 20, 2005 – January 4, 2006
National championship	2006 Rose Bowl
Location of championship	Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, California
Champions	Texas Longhorns
Heisman	Reggie Bush (vacated)
NCAA Division I-A football season «2004 2006»

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game in many years.

To an extent it was a return to classic football. All eight BCS teams were traditional powerhouses, many of the schools having worn the same uniforms for half a century, and Penn State and Florida State having the same coaches for nearly half a century. Alabama was back in the mix for the SEC title, shaking off the residual effects of NCAA sanctions, and though Penn State is a relative newcomer to the Big Ten, Ohio State and Michigan were still in the running for the conference title until the last game.

The BCS saw good fortune as two teams, the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns, went wire to wire as #1 and #2, respectively—the second year in a row that had happened—and finished as Division I-A's only undefeated teams after the regular season. As a result, there was no dispute over the choice of teams selected for the BCS title game (there were five undefeated teams in the 2004 regular season: Oklahoma, USC, Auburn, Utah, and Boise State). The game was played at the Rose Bowl, where Texas edged the favored, defending champion Trojans in large part due to a historic performance by Texas quarterback Vince Young, who gained 467 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns. The victory earned the Longhorns their first consensus national championship since 1969. (Texas won a split title in 1970.)

There was also an unlikely comeback team in the season. The UCF Golden Knights came from a helpless 0–11 record in 2004, to a respectable 8–5 record and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game and a Hawaii Bowl berth. Although their season apparently got off to a poor start with a loss to South Carolina on opening day and a pasting by their intrastate rival, South Florida, they pulled off 8 wins over a 9 game span (only loss was a 31–52 rout by Southern Miss) including getting a win over eventual conference champions, Tulsa. Tulsa ended up beating UCF 44–27. In the Hawaii Bowl, the Golden Knights were a failed PAT away from sending Nevada to double overtime. Also, Penn State, who went 4-7 in 2004, managed an 11-1 record and #3 ranking in 2005, but not being ranked until after the 44-14 pasting of then #19 Minnesota, where Penn State took control of the Governor's Victory Bell for the first time since 1998.

Quite a few conference changes took place in 2005. Temple became an independent football program after expulsion from the Big East Conference and Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA and also returned to football independence. Boston College left the Big East to become the ACC's 12th member, allowing that league to split into divisions and start a conference championship game.

Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East, to bring the membership in that league back up to eight. TCU also left Conference USA to join the Mountain West Conference as its ninth member.

Conference USA responded to the mass defections by adding Central Florida and Marshall from the Mid-American Conference, knocking the MAC's membership down from 14 to 12, and Rice, Southern Methodist, UTEP, and Tulsa from the WAC to get up to 12 members. Like the ACC, C-USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.

In response to their losses, the WAC added Idaho, New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference while the Sun Belt picked up independent Florida Atlantic and Florida International, who had just transitioned from Division I-AA. Division I-A membership is now at 119 schools.

Contents 1 Coaching changes 2 Standings 3 Bowl Games 3.1 BCS Bowls 3.2 Other New Years Day Bowls 3.3 December Bowl Games 4 Heisman Trophy voting 5 Other major award winners 6 References

Coaching changes

Steve Spurrier returned to the college coaching ranks for the first time since 2001, taking the reins at South Carolina and turning out a respectable 7–5 season. Urban Meyer, the previous year's hot coach after leading Utah to an undefeated season took over at Spurrier's old job, Florida. Charlie Weis left the New England Patriots to take over the head coach job at his alma mater Notre Dame and was able to lead them to a BCS bowl.

Barry Alvarez, who took over an absolutely woeful Wisconsin program in 1990 and turned it into a Big Ten force retired, as did Bill Snyder who turned around Big 8 doormat Kansas State and turned it into a Big 12 power. Dan Hawkins who brought Boise State to the status of a mid-major powerhouse left the Broncos to coach the Colorado Buffaloes, a team trying to change its image after recruiting scandals broke out the previous season.

Standings

2005 ACC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Atlantic #23 Florida State xy†   5 – 3         8 – 5   #18 Boston College x   5 – 3         9 – 3   #21 Clemson   4 – 4         8 – 4   NC State   3 – 5         7 – 5   Maryland   3 – 5         5 – 6   Wake Forest   3 – 5         4 – 7   Coastal #7 Virginia Tech x   7 – 1         11 – 2   #17 Miami   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 champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll	2005 Big 12 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   North Colorado x   5 – 3         7 – 6   #24 Nebraska   4 – 4         8 – 4   Iowa State   4 – 4         7 – 5   Missouri   4 – 4         7 – 5   Kansas   3 – 5         7 – 5   Kansas State   2 – 6         5 – 6   South #1 Texas x†   8 – 0         13 – 0   #20 Texas Tech   6 – 2         9 – 3   #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 representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll	2005 Big East football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #5 West Virginia †   7 – 0         11 – 1   #19 Louisville   5 – 2         9 – 3   South Florida   4 – 3         6 – 6   Rutgers   4 – 3         8 – 5   Pittsburgh   4 – 3         5 – 6   Cincinnati   2 – 5         4 – 7   Connecticut   2 – 5         5 – 6   Syracuse   0 – 7         1 – 10   † – BCS representative as champion Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Big Ten football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #3/3 Penn State †§   7 – 1         11 – 1   #4/4 Ohio State ‡§   7 – 1         10 – 2   #15/15 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 champion ‡ – BCS at-large representative § – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll	2005 Conference USA football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   East 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 – 4         4 – 7   UAB   3 – 5         5 – 6   West 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, Central Florida 27 † – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2005 Division I-A independents football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #9 Notre Dame ‡   –         9 – 3   Navy   –         8 – 4   Army   –         4 – 7   Temple   –         0 – 11   ‡ – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll
2005 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   East Miami x   5 – 3         7 – 4   Bowling Green x   5 – 3         6 – 5   Akron xy†   5 – 3         7 – 6   Ohio   3 – 5         4 – 7   Buffalo   1 – 7         1 – 10   Kent State   0 – 8         1 – 10   West Toledo x   6 – 2         9 – 3   Northern Illinois xy   6 – 2         7 – 5   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, Northern Illinois 30 † – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	2005 Mountain West Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #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 football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   #2 USC †   0 – 0         0 – 1   #13 Oregon   7 – 1         10 – 2   #16 UCLA   6 – 2         10 – 2   #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 vacated 12 wins (8 in conference) due to NCAA sanctions. Rankings from AP Poll
2005 SEC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Eastern Division #10 Georgia x†   6 – 2         10 – 3   South Carolina   5 – 3         7 – 5   #12 Florida   5 – 3         9 – 3   Vanderbilt   3 – 5         5 – 6   Tennessee   3 – 5         5 – 6   Kentucky   2 – 6         3 – 8   Western Division #5 LSU xy   7 – 1         11 – 2   #14 Auburn x   7 – 1         9 – 3   #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 champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Alabama finished the season with an overall record of 10–2 (6–2 in conference) but had all victories vacated by the NCAA in 2010. As such, the official record for Alabama is 0–2 (0–2 in conference). Rankings from AP Poll	2005 Sun Belt football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Arkansas State †   5 – 2         6 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana–Lafayette]]   5 – 2         6 – 5   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana–Monroe]]   5 – 2         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|FIU]]   3 – 4         5 – 6   [[{{{school}}}|Middle Tennessee]]   3 – 4         4 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|Troy]]   3 – 4         4 – 7   Florida Atlantic   2 – 5         2 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|North Texas]]   2 – 5         2 – 9   † – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	2005 WAC football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   Boise State §   7 – 1         9 – 4   [[{{{school}}}|Nevada]] §   7 – 1         9 – 3   [[{{{school}}}|Louisiana Tech]]   6 – 2         7 – 4   Fresno State   6 – 2         8 – 5   Hawaiʻi   4 – 4         5 – 7   [[{{{school}}}|San Jose State]]   2 – 6         3 – 8   [[{{{school}}}|Utah State]]   2 – 6         3 – 8   Idaho   2 – 6         2 – 9   [[{{{school}}}|New Mexico State]]   0 – 8         0 – 12   § – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl Games

BCS Bowls

Rankings given are AP rankings going into bowl games

• Rose Bowl: #2 (BCS #2) Texas 41, #1 (BCS #1) Southern California 38
• Fiesta Bowl: (BCS #4) #4 Ohio State 34, (At Large) #5 Notre Dame 20
• Sugar Bowl: (Big East Champ) #11 West Virginia 38, (SEC Champ) #8 Georgia 35
• Orange Bowl: (Big Ten Champ) #3 Penn State 26, (ACC Champ) #25 Florida State 23 (3 OT)

Other New Years Day Bowls

• Cotton Bowl: #13 Alabama 13, #18 Texas Tech 10
• {{{alt}}}: #21 Wisconsin 24, #7 Auburn 10
• Gator Bowl: #12 Virginia Tech 35, #15 Louisville 24
• Outback Bowl: #16 Florida 31, #25 Iowa 24

December Bowl Games

• Peach Bowl: #10 LSU 40, #9 Miami (FL) 3
• Houston Bowl: #14 TCU 27, [[{{{school}}}|Iowa State]] 24
• {{{alt}}}: (C-USA Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Tulsa]] 31, Fresno State 24
• {{{alt}}}: #19 Boston College 27, Boise State 21
• Meineke Car Care Bowl: NC State 14, [[{{{school}}}|South Florida]] 0
• Independence Bowl: Missouri 38, South Carolina 31
• Sun Bowl: #17 UCLA 50, Northwestern 38
• Music City Bowl: Virginia 34, Minnesota 31
• Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma 17, #6 Oregon 14
• Emerald Bowl: Utah 38, #24 Georgia Tech 10
• Alamo Bowl: Nebraska 32, #20 Michigan 28
• Insight Bowl: Arizona State 45, [[{{{school}}}|Rutgers]] 40
• Champs Sports Bowl: #23 Clemson 19, Colorado 10
• {{{alt}}}: [[{{{school}}}|Memphis]] 38, (MAC Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Akron]] 31
• Hawai'i Bowl: (WAC Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Nevada]] 49, UCF 48 (OT)
• Fort Worth Bowl: Kansas 42, [[{{{school}}}|Houston]] 13
• Las Vegas Bowl: California 35, [[{{{school}}}|BYU]] 28
• Poinsettia Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|Navy]] 51, [[{{{school}}}|Colorado State]] 30
• GMAC Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|Toledo]] 45, [[{{{school}}}|UTEP]] 13
• New Orleans Bowl: [[{{{school}}}|Southern Mississippi]] 31, (Sun Belt Champ) [[{{{school}}}|Arkansas State]] 19

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy voting was basically a 3 man show: Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart (who won the Heisman Trophy in 2004), and Vince Young, who helped Texas win the national championship for the 1st time since 1970. Bush won the trophy, with Young coming in second.

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player. There is no winner for 2005 because of irregularities discovered in 2010.

• 2. Vince Young, Jr. Texas QB (1,608 pts)
• 3. Matt Leinart, Sr. USC QB (797 pts)
• 4. Brady Quinn Jr. Notre Dame QB (191 pts)
• 5. Michael Robinson, Sr. Penn State QB (49 pts)

In June 2010, the NCAA ruled that Bush had received improper gifts in violation of NCAA policies. On September 14, 2010, Bush announced in a statement from the New Orleans Saints that he would forfeit his title of 2005 Heisman Trophy winner and return his trophy. Vince Young, the runner-up in 2005, commented that he would not accept the trophy if it was taken away from Bush. On September 15, 2010, the Heisman Trust announced that the 2005 trophy would be vacated, and there would be no winner for that season.^[1]

Other major award winners

• Walter Camp Award (top player): Vacated*
• Maxwell Award (top player): Vince Young, QB, Texas
• AP Player Of the Year: Reggie Bush, RB, USC (AP does not vacate titles stripped by 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): Vacated*
• 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 (Sr. 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

* Originally awarded to Reggie Bush, but vacated due to ineligibility

References

NCAA college football seasons Pre-regulation 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 IAAUS 1906 1907 1908 1909 NCAA 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 NCAA Division I 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 NCAA Division I-A/FBS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 NCAA Division I-AA/FCS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012