2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

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.

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.
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
TSNSeed
52
TSNSeed
7—
1234 Total
Appalachian State 0777 21
Northern Iowa 61000 16
DateDecember 16, 2005
Season2005
StadiumFinley Stadium
LocationChattanooga, Tennessee
RefereeBruce Palmer (Big Sky)[1]
Attendance20,236[2]
United States TV coverage
NetworkESPN2[1]
AnnouncersDave Pasch (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color), Trevor Matich (color), Stacey Dales-Schuman (sideline)[1]

Teams

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
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
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

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
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
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.
StatisticsAPPUNI
First downs1821
Plays–yards70–29878–283
Rushes–yards28–4647–102
Passing yards252181
Passing: Comp–Att–Int19–42–117–31–0
Time of possession23:3436:26
TeamCategoryPlayerStatistics
Appalachian StatePassingRichie Williams10–26, 129 yds
RushingKevin Richardson17 car, 51 yds, 2 TD
ReceivingZach Johnson6 rec, 101 yds
Northern IowaPassingEric Sanders17–31, 181 yds
RushingDavid Horne22 car, 102 yds, 1 TD
ReceivingJustin Surrency5 rec, 59 yds

[2][4]

References
  1. "2005 I-AA National Championship - Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa". Retrieved January 17, 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. "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
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