2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

College football game

This article is about the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game. For the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game, see 2005 Orange Bowl.

College football game

2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

I-AA National Championship Game

2005 I-AA National Championship trophy (left)

| Appalachian State Mountaineers | Northern Iowa Panthers

|

(11–3) | (11–3)
SoCon | Gateway
21 | 16
Head coach:
Jerry Moore | Head coach:
Mark Farley
| TSN| Seed

|

5| 2
| TSN| Seed

|

7| —
|  | 1| 2| 3| 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

Appalachian State | 0| 7| 7| 7 | 21
Northern Iowa | 6| 10| 0| 0 | 16
Date| December 16, 2005
Season| 2005
Stadium| Finley Stadium
Location| Chattanooga, Tennessee
Referee| Bruce Palmer (Big Sky)[1]
Attendance| 20,236[2]
United States TV coverage
Network| ESPN2[1]
Announcers| Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color), Trevor Matich (color), Stacey Dales-Schuman (sideline)[1]
|  NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

< 2004 | 2006 >

The 2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Northern Iowa Panthers and the Appalachian State Mountaineers. The game was played on December 16, 2005, at Finley Stadium, home field of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. This was the final season that the NCAA football classification now known as the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) operated as Division I-AA. The culminating game of the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season, it was won by Appalachian State, 21–16.

## Teams

[edit]

The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2005 I-AA Playoffs, which began with a 16-team bracket.

### Appalachian State Mountaineers

[edit]

Main article: 2005 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

Appalachian State finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (6–1 in conference). Two of their losses were to Division I-A teams; Kansas and LSU. The Mountaineers were the second-seed in the tournament and defeated Lafayette, Southern Illinois, and Furman to reach the final. This was the first appearance for Appalachian State in a Division I-AA championship game.

### Northern Iowa Panthers

[edit]

Main article: 2005 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Northern Iowa finished their regular season with an 8–3 record (5–2 in conference). One of their losses was to Iowa of Division I-A. The Panthers were unseeded in the tournament; they defeated Eastern Washington, first-seed New Hampshire, and fourth-seed Texas State to reach the final. This was also the first appearance for Northern Iowa in a Division I-AA championship game.

## Game summary

[edit]

Northern Iowa took a 6–0 lead in the first quarter, from a pair of field goals. In the second quarter, Appalachian State briefly went ahead, 7–6, on a five-yard touchdown run by Kevin Richardson. Northern Iowa then reclaimed the lead on a touchdown of their own, and extended their advantage to 16–7 from another field goal shortly before halftime. In the third quarter, Richardson's second touchdown of the game brought Appalachian State to within two points, 16–14. With just over nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Appalachian State forced a fumble, which was picked up and run in for a touchdown by Jason Hunter. There would be no further scoring, as Appalachian State won their first title via the 21–16 final.[3]

### Scoring summary

[edit]

Scoring summary

| Quarter  | Time  | Drive | Team  | Scoring information  | Score

|
|
|
|
|

Plays | Yards  | TOP | APP  | UNI
1  | 11:36  | 9  | 41  | 3:31  | UNI  | 50-yard field goal by Brian Wingert  | 0  | 3
1  | 9:45  | 6  | 15  | 1:44  | UNI  | 26-yard field goal by Wingert  | 0  | 6
2  | 13:18  | 9  | 64  | 2:41  | APP  | Kevin Richardson 5-yard touchdown run, Julian Rauch kick good  | 7  | 6
2  | 8:20  | 5  | 41  | 2:13  | UNI  | David Horne 2-yard touchdown run, Wingert kick good  | 7  | 13
2  | 1:09  | 7  | 14  | 2:57  | UNI  | 31-yard field goal by Wingert  | 7  | 16
3  | 6:05  | 9  | 79  | 4:12  | APP  | Richardson 1-yard touchdown run, Rauch kick good  | 14  | 16
4  | 9:14  |  |  |  | APP  | Fumble recovery returned 15 yards for touchdown by Jason Hunter, Rauch kick good  | 21  | 16
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 21  | 16

[2]

### Game statistics

[edit]

| 1  | 2  | 3  | 4 | Total

|
|
|
|
|

No. 2 Mountaineers | 0  | 7  | 7  | 7 | 21
Panthers  | 6  | 10  | 0  | 0 | 16
Jason Hunter scored the winning touchdown for Appalachian State. Statistics  | APP  | UNI

|
|

First downs | 18 | 21
Plays–yards | 70–298 | 78–283
Rushes–yards | 28–46 | 47–102
Passing yards | 252 | 181
Passing: comp–att–int | 19–42–1 | 17–31–0
Time of possession | 23:34 | 36:26
Team | Category | Player | Statistics

|
|
|

Appalachian State  | Passing | Richie Williams | 10–26, 129 yds
Rushing | Kevin Richardson | 17 car, 51 yds, 2 TD
Receiving | Zach Johnson | 6 rec, 101 yds
Northern Iowa  | Passing | Eric Sanders | 17–31, 181 yds
Rushing | David Horne | 22 car, 102 yds, 1 TD
Receiving | Justin Surrency | 5 rec, 59 yds

[2][4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "2005 I-AA National Championship - Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa". February 8, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2019 - via YouTube.
2. ^ a b c "Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa (box score)". Des Moines Register. December 17, 2005. p. 2C. Retrieved January 17, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
3. ^ "Appalachian earns I-AA title". Orlando Sentinel. AP. December 17, 2005. Retrieved January 18, 2019 - via newspapers.com.
4. ^ "Northern Iowa vs. Appalachian State - Game Summary". ESPN. December 16, 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2019.

## Further reading

[edit]

* "APPS WIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!". appstatesports.com. December 16, 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
* "Panthers Edged Late by Appalachian State in Championship Game, 21-16". unipanthers.com. December 16, 2005. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
* "Division I-AA Poll". Missoulian. Missoula, Montana: The Sports Network. AP. November 22, 2005. p. D3. Retrieved February 5, 2019 - via newspapers.com.

## External links

[edit]

* 2005 I-AA National Championship - Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa via YouTube

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