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

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

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	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

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

External links

NCAA Division I Football Championship Game

NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011* 2012* 2013* 2014* 2015* 2016* 2017* 2018* 2019* 2020* 2021† 2022* 2023* 2024*
Games through 2009 were played in December. Subsequent games have been played in January (*) or May (†).

Appalachian State Mountaineers football

Appalachian State Mountaineers football
Venues	College Field (1928–1961) Kidd Brewer Stadium (1962–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Georgia Southern Marshall Western Carolina (Battle for the Old Mountain Jug)
Culture & lore	"Hi Hi Yikas" Marching Mountaineers 2007 Michigan game Miracle on the Mountain Yosef
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees
Seasons	1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

Northern Iowa Panthers football

Northern Iowa Panthers football
Venues	O. R. Latham Stadium (1936–1975) UNI-Dome (1976–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Drake
Culture & lore	"UNI Fight"
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

2005–06 NCAA Division I championships

† Not an officially sanctioned NCAA championship