2005 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

American college football season

2005 New Hampshire Wildcats football
A-10 co-champion
NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal, L 21–24 vs. Northern Iowa
Conference	Atlantic 10 Conference
Division	North Division
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 5
Record	11–2 (7–1 A-10)
Head coach	Sean McDonnell (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chip Kelly (7th season)
Home stadium	Cowell Stadium
Seasons← 2004 2006 →

2005 Atlantic 10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
North Division
No. 5 New Hampshire x+^	7	–	1	11	–	2
No. 19 UMass	6	–	2	7	–	4
Hofstra	5	–	3	8	–	4
Maine	3	–	5	5	–	6
Northeastern	2	–	6	3	–	9
Rhode Island	2	–	6	4	–	7
South Division
No. 8 Richmond x+^	7	–	1	9	–	4
No. 25 James Madison	5	–	3	7	–	4
Towson	3	–	5	7	–	4
Delaware	3	–	5	6	–	5
William & Mary	3	–	5	5	–	6
Villanova	2	–	6	4	–	7

+ – Conference co-champions x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 2005 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire during the 2005 NCAA Division I-AA football season. It was the program's 111th season and they finished as Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) co-champions with Richmond after posting a 7–1 record in conference play. The Wildcats earned a berth as the #1 seed into the 16-team Division I-AA playoffs, but were upset in the quarterfinals by Northern Iowa, 21–24. New Hampshire was led by seventh-year head coach Sean McDonnell.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	9:00 p.m.	at UC Davis*	No. 7	Toomey Field Davis, CA		W 17–13	6,375
September 17	3:00 p.m.	at Towson	No. 3	Johnny Unitas Stadium Towson, MD		W 62–21	3,014
September 24	12:00 p.m.	Dartmouth*	No. 2	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH (rivalry)		W 49–20	7,145
October 1	12:30 p.m.	Villanova	No. 1	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH	CN8	W 45–17	8,012
October 8	1:00 p.m.	at No. 17 William & Mary	No. 1	Zable Stadium Williamsburg, VA		L 10–42	4,149
October 15	12:00 p.m.	Rhode Island	No. 8	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH		W 53–9	5,596
October 22	12:00 p.m.	Northeastern	No. 5	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH		W 52–21	7,317
October 29	12:00 p.m.	at No. 7 UMass	No. 4	McGuirk Stadium Hadley, MA (rivalry)		W 34–28	12,359
November 5	1:00 p.m.	at Hofstra	No. 2	James M. Shuart Stadium Hempstead, NY		W 29–26	4,215
November 12	12:00 p.m.	Iona*	No. 1	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH		W 56–0	5,345
November 19	12:00 p.m.	at Maine	No. 1	Alfond Stadium Orono, ME (Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket)		W 59–47	8,606
November 26	12:00 p.m.	No. 24 Colgate*	No. 1	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	ESPN2	W 55–21	7,806
December 3	11:00 a.m.	No. 2 Northern Iowa*	No. 1	Cowell Stadium Durham, NH (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	ESPNGP	L 21–24	8,448
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

First Team All-America – David Ball (AFCA, Associated Press, Walter Camp); Ricky Santos (Walter Camp); Jonathan Williams (Associated Press, Walter Camp)
First Team All-Atlantic 10 – David Ball, Ricky Santos, Jonathan Williams
Walter Payton Award – Ricky Santos
Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year – Ricky Santos
Eddie Robinson Award – Sean McDonnell

v t e New Hampshire Wildcats football
Venues	College Oval ( –1920) Memorial Field (1921–1935) Lewis Field / Cowell Stadium / Wildcat Stadium (1936–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Dartmouth UMass: Colonial Clash Bill Knight Trophy Maine: Battle for the Brice–Cowell Musket
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1893 1894 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

v t e Atlantic 10 Conference football champions
Villanova (1997) Richmond (1998) James Madison & UMass (1999) Delaware & Richmond (2000) Hofstra, Maine, Villanova, & William & Mary (2001) Maine & Northeastern (2002) Delaware & UMass (2003) Delaware, James Madison, & William & Mary (2004) New Hampshire & Richmond (2005) UMass (2006)
National championships in bold