2005 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game

{{about|the Division I-AA (now FCS) championship game|the Division I-A (now FBS) championship game|2005 Orange Bowl}}

{{infobox college football game

| game_name = NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship

| subheader = I-AA National Championship Game

| image = NC TrophiesASU.jpg

| caption = 2005 I-AA National Championship trophy (left)

| football_season = 2005

| football_division = NCAA Division I-AA

| year_game_played = 2005

| date_game_played = December 16

| visitor_school = Appalachian State University

| visitor_name_short = Appalachian State

| visitor_nickname = Mountaineers

| visitor_record = 11–3

| visitor_conference = SoCon

| visitor_coach = Jerry Moore

| visitor_rank_TSN = 5

| visitor_seed = 2

| visitor_1q = 0

| visitor_2q = 7

| visitor_3q = 7

| visitor_4q = 7

| home_school = University of Northern Iowa

| home_name_short = Northern Iowa

| home_nickname = Panthers

| home_record = 11–3

| home_conference = Gateway

| home_coach = Mark Farley

| home_rank_TSN = 7

| home_seed = —

| home_1q = 6

| home_2q = 10

| home_3q = 0

| home_4q = 0

| stadium = Finley Stadium

| city = Chattanooga, Tennessee

| referee = Bruce Palmer (Big Sky)

| attendance = 20,236

| us_network = ESPN2{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DozWVmW7Jk |title=2005 I-AA National Championship - Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa |date=February 8, 2016 |via=YouTube |accessdate=January 17, 2019}}

| us_announcers = Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Rod Gilmore (color), Trevor Matich (color), Stacey Dales-Schuman (sideline)

| different_previous = 2004

| different_next = 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

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=

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=

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.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27345522/appalachian_earns_iaa_title/ |title=Appalachian earns I-AA title |agency=AP |newspaper=Orlando Sentinel |date=December 17, 2005 |accessdate=January 18, 2019 |via=newspapers.com}}

=Scoring summary=

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryStart |VisitorName=APP|HomeName=UNI|state=}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=1

| Time=11:36

| Team=UNI

| DrivePlays=9

| DriveLength=41

| DriveTime=3:31

| Type=FG

| yards=50

| Kicker=Brian Wingert

| Visitor=0

| Home=3

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=1

| Time=9:45

| Team=UNI

| DrivePlays=6

| DriveLength=15

| DriveTime=1:44

| Type=FG

| yards=26

| Kicker=Wingert

| Visitor=0

| Home=6

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=13:18

| Team=APP

| DrivePlays=9

| DriveLength=64

| DriveTime=2:41

| Type=RushTD

| Runner=Kevin Richardson

| yards=5

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Julian Rauch

| Visitor=7

| Home=6

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=8:20

| Team=UNI

| DrivePlays=5

| DriveLength=41

| DriveTime=2:13

| Type=RushTD

| Runner=David Horne

| yards=2

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Wingert

| Visitor=7

| Home=13

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=2

| Time=1:09

| Team=UNI

| DrivePlays=7

| DriveLength=14

| DriveTime=2:57

| Type=FG

| yards=31

| Kicker=Wingert

| Visitor=7

| Home=16

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=3

| Time=6:05

| Team=APP

| DrivePlays=9

| DriveLength=79

| DriveTime=4:12

| Type=RushTD

| Runner=Richardson

| yards=1

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Rauch

| Visitor=14

| Home=16

}}

{{AmFootballScoreSummaryEntry

| Quarter=4

| Time=9:14

| Team=APP

| DrivePlays=

| DriveLength=

| DriveTime=

| Type=FumbleTD

| Def=Jason Hunter

| yards=15

| kickresult=good

| Kicker=Rauch

| Visitor=21

| Home=16

}}

=Game statistics=

{{Linescore Amfootball|

|Road=No. 2 Mountaineers

|R1=0 |R2=7 |R3=7 |R4=7

|Home=Panthers

|H1=6 |H2=10 |H3=0 |H4=0

}}

File:Jason Hunter (American football).JPG scored the winning touchdown for Appalachian State.]]

{{AmFootballGameStatistics

| Visitor = Appalachian State Mountaineers

| VisitorDisplay = APP

| Home = Northern Iowa Panthers

| HomeDisplay = UNI

| VisFirsts = 18

| VisPlaysYds = 70–298

| VisRushing = 28–46

| VisPassYds = 252

| VisPassing = 19–42–1

| VisTOP = 23:34

| HomeFirsts = 21

| HomePlaysYds = 78–283

| HomeRushing = 47–102

| HomePassYds = 181

| HomePassing = 17–31–0

| HomeTOP = 36:26

}}

{{AmFootballGameTopPlayers

| Visitor = Appalachian State Mountaineers

| VisitorDisplay = Appalachian State

| Home = Northern Iowa Panthers

| HomeDisplay = Northern Iowa

| VisPasser = Richie Williams

| VisPassStats = 10–26, 129 yds

| VisRusher = Kevin Richardson

| VisRushStats = 17 car, 51 yds, 2 TD

| VisReceiver = Zach Johnson

| VisReceivingStats = 6 rec, 101 yds

| HomePasser = Eric Sanders

| HomePassStats = 17–31, 181 yds

| HomeRusher = David Horne

| HomeRushStats = 22 car, 102 yds, 1 TD

| HomeReceiver = Justin Surrency

| HomeReceivingStats = 5 rec, 59 yds

}}

{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27342962/appalachian_state_vs_northern_iowa/ |title=Appalachian State vs. Northern Iowa (box score) |newspaper=Des Moines Register |page=2C |date=December 17, 2005 |accessdate=January 17, 2019 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite web |url=http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=253502026 |title=Northern Iowa vs. Appalachian State - Game Summary |website=ESPN |date=December 16, 2005 |accessdate=January 17, 2019}}