2005 NCAA Division I - A football season The 2005 NCAA Division I - A football season ended with the least amount of controversy surrounding the Bowl Championship Series ( BCS ) title game in many years . To an extent it was a return to classic football . All eight BCS teams were traditional powerhouses , many of the schools having worn the same uniforms for half a century , and Penn State and Florida State having the same coaches for nearly half a century . Alabama was back in the mix for the SEC title , shaking off the residual effects of NCAA sanctions , and though Penn State is a relative newcomer to the Big Ten , Ohio State and Michigan were still in the running for the conference title until the last game . The BCS saw good fortune as two teams , the USC Trojans and the Texas Longhorns , went wire to wire as # 1 and # 2 , respectively — the second year in a row that had happened — and finished as Division I - A ' s only undefeated teams after the regular season . As a result , there was no dispute over the choice of teams selected for the BCS title game ( there were " five " undefeated teams in the 2004 regular season : Oklahoma , USC , Auburn , Utah , and Boise State ) . The game was played at the Rose Bowl , where Texas edged the favored , defending champion Trojans in large part due to a historic performance by Texas quarterback Vince Young , who gained 467 yards of total offense and ran for three touchdowns . The victory earned the Longhorns their first consensus national championship since 1969 . ( Texas won a split title in 1970 . ) There was also an unlikely comeback team in the season . The UCF Golden Knights came from a helpless 0 – 11 record in 2004 , to a respectable 8 – 5 record and an appearance in the Conference USA Championship game and a Hawaii Bowl berth . Although their season apparently got off to a poor start with a loss to South Carolina on opening day and a pasting by their intrastate rival , , they pulled off 8 wins over a 9 game span ( only loss was a 31 – 52 rout by ) including getting a win over eventual conference champions , . Tulsa ended up beating UCF 44 – 27 . In the Hawaii Bowl , the Golden Knights were a failed PAT away from sending to double overtime . Also , Penn State , who went 4 - 7 in 2004 , managed an 11 - 1 record and # 3 ranking in 2005 , but not being ranked until after the 44 - 14 pasting of then # 19 Minnesota , where Penn State took control of the Governor ' s Victory Bell for the first time since 1998 . Quite a few conference changes took place in 2005 . Temple became an independent football program after expulsion from the Big East Conference and Army ended its brief affiliation with Conference USA and also returned to football independence . Boston College left the Big East to become the ACC ' s 12th member , allowing that league to split into divisions and start a conference championship game . Cincinnati , Louisville and South Florida left Conference USA to join the Big East , to bring the membership in that league back up to eight . TCU also left Conference USA to join the Mountain West Conference as its ninth member . Conference USA responded to the mass defections by adding Central Florida and Marshall from the Mid - American Conference , knocking the MAC ' s membership down from 14 to 12 , and Rice , Southern Methodist , UTEP , and Tulsa from the WAC to get up to 12 members . Like the ACC , C - USA split into two divisions and started a conference championship game . In response to their losses , the WAC added Idaho , New Mexico State and Utah State from the Sun Belt Conference while the Sun Belt picked up independent Florida Atlantic and Florida International , who had just transitioned from Division I - AA . Division I - A membership is now at 119 schools . Coaching changes . Steve Spurrier returned to the college coaching ranks for the first time since 2001 , taking the reins at South Carolina and turning out a respectable 7 – 5 season . Urban Meyer , the previous year ' s hot coach after leading Utah to an undefeated season took over at Spurrier ' s old job , Florida . Charlie Weis left the New England Patriots to take over the head coach job at his alma mater Notre Dame and was able to lead them to a BCS bowl . Barry Alvarez , who took over an absolutely woeful Wisconsin program in 1990 and turned it into a Big Ten force retired , as did Bill Snyder who turned around Big 8 doormat Kansas State and turned it into a Big 12 power . Dan Hawkins who brought Boise State to the status of a mid - major powerhouse left the Broncos to coach the Colorado Buffaloes , a team trying to change its image after recruiting scandals broke out the previous season . Bowl Games . BCS Bowls . " Rankings given are AP rankings going into bowl games " Heisman Trophy voting . The Heisman Trophy voting was basically a 3 man show : Reggie Bush , Matt Leinart ( who won the Heisman Trophy in 2004 ) , and Vince Young , who helped Texas win the national championship for the 1st time since 1970 . Bush won the trophy , with Young coming in second . The Heisman Trophy is given to the year ' s most outstanding player . " There is no winner for 2005 because of irregularities discovered in 2010 . " In June 2010 , the NCAA ruled that Bush had received improper gifts in violation of NCAA policies . On September 14 , 2010 , Bush announced in a statement from the New Orleans Saints that he would forfeit his title of 2005 Heisman Trophy winner and return his trophy . Vince Young , the runner - up in 2005 , commented that he would not accept the trophy if it was taken away from Bush . On September 15 , 2010 , the Heisman Trust announced that the 2005 trophy would be vacated , and there would be no winner for that season . Other major award winners . < nowiki > * < / nowiki > Originally awarded to Reggie Bush , but vacated due to ineligibility