CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 2005 season

Texas finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 13–⁠0 under Mack Brown, after it beat USC 41–⁠38 in the Rose Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 2 Texas 41, No. 1 USC 38 (Jan 4, 2006). One Division I-A team finished unbeaten. 63 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Reggie Bush, RB, USC, who also won the Walter Camp and Doak Walker.

The Heisman vote: Reggie Bush 2,541 points, Vince Young 1,608
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Reggie Bush RB, USC2,5417848911
Vince Young QB, Texas1,60879613145
Matt Leinart QB, USC79718147449
Brady Quinn QB, Notre Dame191721128
Michael Robinson QB, Penn State492729
A.J. Hawk LB, Ohio State290323
DeAngelo Williams RB, Memphis261219
Drew Olson QB, UCLA211214
Jerome Harrison RB, Washington State200412
Elvis Dumervil DE, Louisville9009

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 2005 Virginia Tech team
The 2005 Virginia Tech teamPhoto: User:B, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 2005 Virginia Tech season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Texas (65)Big 12
2USCPac-10
3Penn StateBig Ten
4Ohio StateBig Ten
5West VirginiaBig East
6LSUSoutheastern Conference
7Virginia TechAtlantic Coast Conference
8AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
9Notre DameIndependent
10GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
11TCUMountain West Conference
12FloridaSoutheastern Conference
12OregonPac-10
14AuburnSoutheastern Conference
15WisconsinBig Ten
16UCLAPac-10
17MiamiAtlantic Coast Conference
18Boston CollegeAtlantic Coast Conference
19LouisvilleBig East
20Texas TechBig 12
21ClemsonAtlantic Coast Conference
22OklahomaBig 12
23Florida StateAtlantic Coast Conference
24NebraskaBig 12
25CaliforniaPac-10

Biggest upsets

Nov 19, 2005Georgia Tech 14, 3Miami 10
Oct 15, 2005Virginia 26, 4Florida State 21
Sep 3, 2005TCU 17, 7Oklahoma 10
Nov 5, 2005Arizona 52, 7UCLA 14
Sep 10, 2005Iowa State 23, 8Iowa 3
Oct 15, 2005Michigan 27, 8Penn State 25
Dec 29, 2005Oklahoma 17, 8Oregon 14
Sep 10, 200520Notre Dame 17, 3Michigan 10
Sep 24, 2005South Florida 45, 9Louisville 14
Nov 5, 2005NC State 20, 9Florida State 15
Dec 3, 200522Florida State 27, 5Virginia Tech 22
Sep 17, 2005Michigan State 44, 10Notre Dame 41

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 2005, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13FinalGeorgia: Wk 1 No. 13, Wk 2 No. 9, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 14, Wk 13 No. 13, Wk 14 No. 13, Final No. 1010 GeorgiaNotre Dame: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 No. 20, Wk 3 No. 10, Wk 4 No. 16, Wk 5 No. 13, Wk 6 No. 12, Wk 7 No. 9, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 7, Final No. 99 Notre DameAlabama: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 20, Wk 5 No. 15, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 8, Wk 13 No. 14, Wk 14 No. 14, Final No. 88 AlabamaVirginia Tech: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Final No. 77 Virginia TechLSU: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 7, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 3, Final No. 66 LSUWest Virginia: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 20, Wk 9 No. 18, Wk 10 No. 18, Wk 11 No. 16, Wk 12 No. 13, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 12, Final No. 55 West VirginiaOhio State: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 15, Wk 8 No. 14, Wk 9 No. 12, Wk 10 No. 12, Wk 11 No. 10, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 6, Final No. 44 Ohio StatePenn State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 16, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 4, Final No. 33 Penn StateUSC: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Final No. 22 USCTexas: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 2, Final No. 11 Texas
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Penn Stateunranked → No. 3
  2. West Virginiaunranked → No. 5
  3. Alabamaunranked → No. 8
  4. Notre Dameunranked → No. 9
  5. TCUunranked → No. 11

Fell

  1. TennesseeNo. 3 → unranked
  2. MichiganNo. 4 → unranked
  3. OklahomaNo. 7 → No. 22
  4. IowaNo. 11 → unranked
  5. PurdueNo. 15 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsColt Brennan (Hawai’i)4,301 yds
Passing touchdownsColt Brennan (Hawai’i)35 TD
Passer ratingRudy Carpenter (Arizona State)175.0
Rushing yardsDeAngelo Williams (Memphis)1,964 yds
Rushing touchdownsLenDale White (USC)24 TD
Yards per carryReggie Bush (USC)8.7
ReceptionsGreg Jennings (Western Michigan)98 catches
Receiving yardsMike Hass (Oregon State)1,532 yds
Yards per catchMatt Miller (Arizona State)23.5
Receiving touchdownsDwayne Jarrett (USC)16 TD
PointsLenDale White (USC)156 pts
Points per gameSteve Slaton (West Virginia)16.3
Total offenseColt Brennan (Hawai’i)4,455 yds
Total offense per gameColt Brennan (Hawai’i)371.3
Punt return averageMaurice Jones-Drew (UCLA)28.5
Kickoff return averageJonathan Stewart (Oregon)33.7

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Division I-A

Atlantic Coast Conference
Florida State
Big 12
Texas
Big East
West Virginia
Big Ten
Ohio State and Penn State (shared)
Conference USA
Tulsa
Mid-American Conference
Akron
Mountain West Conference
TCU
Southeastern Conference
Georgia
Sun Belt Conference
Louisiana and UL Monroe (shared)
Western Athletic Conference
Boise State and Nevada (shared)

Division I-AA

Atlantic 10
Richmond
Big Sky
Eastern Washington, Montana and Montana State (shared)
Big South
Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina (shared)
Gateway Football Conference
Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Youngstown State (shared)
Great West Conference
Cal Poly and UC Davis (shared)
Ivy League
Brown
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Duquesne
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Hampton
Northeast Conference
Central Connecticut and Stony Brook (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Eastern Illinois
Patriot League
Colgate and Lafayette (shared)
Pioneer Football League
San Diego
Southern Conference
App State
Southland Conference
Nicholls and Texas State (shared)
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling

Division II and below

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
North Carolina Central
Gulf South Conference
Central Arkansas
North Central Conference
North Dakota and South Dakota (shared)
Northeast-10 Conference
Long Island University
South Atlantic Conference
Presbyterian

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

25 playersAll 11 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 2005 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 2005 All-America teams page.

The 2005 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Defensive player of the year

Scholarship and character

Coaches

The champion’s staff

Every title staff

Texas 23 on the staff list

  • Mack Brownhead coach
  • Greg Davisoffensive coordinator, quarterbacks
  • Duane Akinaco-defensive coordinator, defensive backs
  • Gene Chizikco-defensive coordinator, assistant head coach, linebackers
  • Bruce Chambersassistant head coach, recruiting coordinator, tight ends
  • Oscar Gilesdefensive ends
  • Bobby Kennedyrecruiting coordinator, wide receivers
  • Mac McWhorterassociate head coach, offensive line
  • Ken Ruckerrunning backs
  • Mike Tollesondefensive tackles, special teams coordinator
Support staff (13)

Strength and conditioning

  • Jeff Madden assistant athletics director for strength & conditioning

Operations and recruiting

  • Cleve Bryant associate athletics director for football operations
  • George Wynn assistant athletics director for football operations
  • Kasey Johnson administrative associate – head coach
  • Jan Allgood administrative assistant – offense
  • Amy S. Biegel administrative assistant – defense
  • Brenda Preston-Robison administrative assistant – recruiting

Sports medicine and nutrition

  • Kenny Boyd head football trainer
  • Allen Hardin co-director sports medicine, athletic training & Physical Therapist

Equipment

  • Chip Robertson equipment manager

Video, communications and other staff

  • Mike Arias video coordinator for football
  • Jean Bryant Academic, Life Skills Counselor
  • Brian Davis assistant athletics director for Academic services

The staff as the school listed it that season, roles in the source’s words (students and graduate assistants left out). Names link to coach pages where we have one, else to Wikipedia. Staff lists: Drew Hoover’s how-many-rings (MIT), from the schools’ media guides and staff pages.

Final BCS standings

1USC12–⁠0
2Texas12–⁠0
3Penn State10–⁠1
4Ohio State9–⁠2
5Oregon10–⁠1
6Notre Dame9–⁠2
7Georgia10–⁠2
8Miami9–⁠2
9Auburn9–⁠2
10Virginia Tech10–⁠2
11West Virginia10–⁠1
12LSU10–⁠2
13Alabama9–⁠2
14TCU10–⁠1
15Texas Tech9–⁠2
16UCLA9–⁠2
17Florida8–⁠3
18Wisconsin9–⁠3
19Louisville9–⁠2
20Michigan7–⁠4
21Boston College8–⁠3
22Florida State8–⁠4
23Oklahoma7–⁠4
24Georgia Tech7–⁠4
25Northwestern7–⁠4

The last standings of the season, released December 4: the Bowl Championship Series’ formula of polls and computer rankings that matched No. 1 and No. 2 in the title game, 1998–⁠2013. From Wikipedia’s season rankings article (CC BY-SA); records as it lists them.

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 20, 2005Southern Miss 31, Arkansas State 19New Orleans Bowl
Dec 21, 2005Toledo 45, UTEP 13GMAC Bowl
Dec 22, 2005California 35, BYU 28Las Vegas Bowl
Dec 22, 2005Navy 51, Colorado State 30Poinsettia Bowl
Dec 23, 2005Kansas 42, Houston 13Fort Worth Bowl
Dec 24, 2005Nevada 49, UCF 48Hawai’i Bowl
Dec 26, 2005Memphis 38, Akron 31Motor City Bowl
Dec 27, 200522Clemson 19, Colorado 10Champs Sports Bowl
Dec 27, 2005Arizona State 45, Rutgers 40Insight Bowl
Dec 28, 200519Boston College 27, Boise State 21MPC Computers Bowl
Dec 28, 2005Nebraska 32, 20Michigan 28Alamo Bowl
Dec 29, 2005Utah 38, 24Georgia Tech 10Emerald Bowl
Dec 29, 2005Oklahoma 17, 8Oregon 14Holiday Bowl
Dec 30, 2005Virginia 34, Minnesota 31Music City Bowl
Dec 30, 200511UCLA 50, Northwestern 38Sun Bowl
Dec 30, 2005Missouri 38, South Carolina 31Independence Bowl
Dec 30, 20053LSU 40, 10Miami 3Peach Bowl
Dec 31, 2005NC State 14, South Florida 0Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec 31, 2005Tulsa 31, 23Fresno State 24Liberty Bowl
Dec 31, 200515TCU 27, Iowa State 24Houston Bowl
Jan 2, 200617Florida 31, 25Iowa 24Outback Bowl
Jan 2, 200614Alabama 13, 18Texas Tech 10Cotton Bowl
Jan 2, 20065Virginia Tech 35, 16Louisville 24Gator Bowl
Jan 2, 200621Wisconsin 24, 9Auburn 10Capital One Bowl
Jan 2, 20066Ohio State 34, 7Notre Dame 20Fiesta Bowl
Jan 2, 200612West Virginia 38, 13Georgia 35Sugar Bowl
Jan 3, 20064Penn State 26, 22Florida State 23Orange Bowl
Jan 4, 20062Texas 41, 1USC 38Rose Bowl

Rule book changes

Every rule book

The 2005 NCAA rule book against the one before: 1 new and 6 changed articles.

Rule 2: Definitions

  • New Rule 2-18-2 Offside (Encroachment and Offside)
  • Changed Rule 2-19-4 Catchable Forward Pass (Passes)
  • Changed Rule 2-24-1 (Spearing)
  • Changed Rule 2-31-4 Playing Surface (Field Areas)

Rule 5: Series of Downs, Line to Gain

  • Changed Rule 5-1-1 When to Award Series (A Series: Started, Broken, Renewed)

Rule 7: Snapping and Passing the Ball

  • Changed Rule 7-3-4 Eligibility Lost by Going Out of Bounds (Forward Pass)

Rule 11: The Officials: Jurisdiction and Duties

  • Changed Rule 11-1-4 Equipment (General Duties)

Only the first sentence of each article is compared, so a change deeper in an article (most penalty clauses, the overtime procedure) doesn’t show here, and a change that shows may be rewording. No rule text is kept: only numbers and headings. Rule books: NCAA, via Pierce’s provision dataset (Zenodo, CC BY 4.0).