2005 NCAA Division I A football season

Updated on Dec 07, 2024

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Duration September 1–December 3 National championship 2006 Rose Bowl Number of teams 119		Preseason AP #1 USC Trojans Start date 2005

Duration December 20, 2005 –January 4, 2006 Bowl games 33 (28 team-competitive and 5 all-star) Heisman Trophy Reggie Bush, USC RB(vacated) Site Rose Bowl Stadium,Pasadena, California Similar 2002 NCAA Division I, 2001 NCAA Division I, 1999 NCAA Division I, 1998 NCAA Division I, 2004 NCAA Division I

The 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season ended with the little controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game.

All eight BCS teams were traditional powerhouses. Penn State and Florida State had the same coaches for nearly half a century. Alabama competed for the SEC title, shaking off the residual effects of NCAA sanctions. Ohio State and Michigan were both still in the running for the conference title until the last game.

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. Conversely, there were five undefeated teams in the 2004 regular season: Oklahoma, USC, Auburn, Utah, and Boise State.

The BCS title game was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, where Texas defeated the heavily favored Trojans of Southern California, in large part due to the performance of Texas quarterback Vince Young. Young went on to gain 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.)

The UCF Golden Knights were an unlikely comeback team but they 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 had a poor start with a loss to South Carolina on opening day and another by their intrastate rival, South Florida. They had 8 wins over a 9-game span (only loss was a 31–52 loss to 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.

Penn State, who went 4-7 in 2004, managed an 11-1 record and #3 ranking in 2005. Although Penn State was not ranked until after a 44-14 victory over then #19 Minnesota, Penn State took control of the Governor's Victory Bell for the first time since 1998.

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, which include:

Simulated throat-slashing and gun-firing

Pointing the ball at, verbally taunting, or standing over an opposing player

Bowing at the waist

Chest-pounding and crossing hands in front of the chest

Spinning the ball like a top, spiking the ball (except to conserve time by the quarterback), or throwing/kicking the ball into the stands or into the air

Obviously altering stride (ex. high-stepping) or diving into the end zone unchallenged

Placing a hand on the ear simulating not being able to hear the crowd

Jumping into the crowd (similar to the "Lambeau Leap")

Removing the helmet in the field of play (exceptions: injury to the player, during timeouts, adjustment of equipment, or during first down measurement)

Choreographed celebrations with teammates.

Non-choreographed or spontaneous celebrations after a score or a play are permitted provided the player(s) are not bringing attention to themselves.

Conference changes

Quite a few conference changes took place in 2005 with 18 teams changing conferences:

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.

Temple became an independent football program after expulsion from the Big East Conference

Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA and also returned to football independence.

Cincinnati, Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East.

TCU also left Conference USA to become the Mountain West Conference's ninth member.

Conference USA responded and increased its membership to 12 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. Like the ACC, C-USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game.

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

The Sun Belt picked up independent Florida Atlantic and Florida International, who had just transitioned from Division I-AA.

By the end of realignment, Division I-A membership had increased from 118 to 119 schools.

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 Wisconsin's football program in 1990 and turned it into a Big Ten force, retired. As did Bill Snyder, who turned Big 8 doormat Kansas State into a Big 12 power. Dan Hawkins, who helped lead 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.

BCS bowls

Rankings given are AP rankings going into bowl games

Rose Bowl: #2 (BCS #2, Big 12 Champ) Texas 41, #1 (BCS #1, Pac 10 Champ) 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

Capital One Bowl: #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, Iowa State 24

Liberty Bowl: (C-USA Champ) Tulsa 31, Fresno State 24

MPC Computers Bowl: #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: #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, Rutgers 40

Champs Sports Bowl: #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

Heisman Trophy voting

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

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

1: Reggie Bush, Jr. USC TB (2,541 pts)

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.