# 2005 West Texas A&M Buffaloes football team

The 2005 West Texas A&M Buffaloes football team represented West Texas A&M University in the 2005 NCAA Division II football season as a member of the Lone Star Conference (LSC). The Buffaloes were led by first-year head coach Don Carthel and played their games at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon, Texas.
In Carthel's first year as head coach, the Buffaloes finished with an overall record of 10–2, going 8–1 in LSC play, winning the LSC's South Division and were named conference champions. West Texas A&M qualified for the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs, earning a first-round bye, but the Buffaloes were eliminated by No. 23 Pittsburg State, 41–3, in the second round.

## Offseason
### Coaching changes

Head coach Ronnie Jones was suspended with pay on April 13, 2005, amid allegations that he had misused university resources for personal gain. Jones resigned as the Buffaloes' head coach on April 18 after a university investigation discovered that Jones was running a marketing business out of his office; offensive coordinator Lee Hays was named the team's interim head coach. In three years as the program's head coach, the Buffaloes went 0–11, 3–8, and 2–8 under Jones for an overall record of 5–27.
The university hired Don Carthel to replace Jones. Carthel had previously applied to be the Buffaloes' head coach in 2001, but Jones was selected over Carthel.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | Result | Attendance |
| August 25 | 8:00 p.m. | at New Mexico Highlands* | | Perkins StadiumLas Vegas, NM | W 90–21 | |
| September 3 | 6:00 p.m. | East Central | | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX | W 37–6 | |
| September 10 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 24 Central Oklahoma | | Chad Richison StadiumEdmond, OK | W 44–31 | |
| September 17 | 6:00 p.m. | Southwestern Oklahoma | | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX | W 41–14 | 8,599 |
| September 24 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 3 Texas A&M–Kingsville | | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX | W 28–20 | 14,095 |
| October 1 | 7:00 p.m. | at Midwestern State | No. 22 | Memorial StadiumWichita Falls, TX | W 47–44 | 7,883 |
| October 8 | 7:00 p.m. | Eastern New Mexico | No. 16 | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX (Wagon Wheel) | W 52–51 $^{OT}$ | 22,993 |
| October 15 | 2:00 p.m. | at Abilene Christian | No. 10 | Wildcat StadiumAbilene, TX | W 40–24 | 10,000 |
| October 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Angelo State | No. 7 | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX | L 53–58 | 17,127 |
| October 29 | 2:00 p.m. | at Texas A&M–Commerce | No. 13 | Memorial StadiumCommerce, TX (East Texas vs. West Texas) | W 19–17 | 1,246 |
| November 5 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 22 Tarleton State | No. 12 | Memorial StadiumStephenville, TX | W 30–26 | |
| November 19 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 23 Pittsburg State* | No. 7 | Kimbrough Memorial StadiumCanyon, TX (NCAA Division II Second Round) | L 3–41 | 8,510 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AFCA Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
* ^A Denotes the then largest crowd to watch a football game at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. The record was later broken on October 13, 2007.

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Final |
| AFCA | — | — | — | RV | RV | 22 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 15 |