December 15, 2005 - CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Marques Murrell forced a fumble and Jason Hunter returned it for a touchdown with 9:14 remaining in the game to give Appalachian State University the NCAA Division I-AA National Championship with a 21-16 victory over Northern Iowa on Friday night at Finley Stadium.

The Mountaineers trailed for all but 4:58 of the contest until Hunter's third touchdown of the season in the final period. All-Americans Hunter and Murrell led the Appalachian comeback from their defensive end positions as Hunter compiled 10 total tackles, three for loss, a fumble recovery and two sacks and Murrell added nine total tackles, five-and-a-half for loss, two forced fumbles and two quarterback sacks.

Quarterback Richie Williams also helped engineer the Mountaineers' comeback by courageously battling through an ankle injury to come off the bench and throw for 129 yards in the second half of the win.

Sophomore Trey Elder started the contest and registered 123 yards through the air in the first half, but the ASU offense was hindered by three turnovers and trailed 16-7 at the half.

Kevin Richardson scored both of Appalachian's offensive touchdowns with a five-yard scamper in the second quarter and a one-yard jaunt that brought ASU within two points at 16-14 with 6:05 to go in the third period. In the process, the sophomore tied Hall of Famer John Settle's Appalachian single-season record of 21 touchdowns in a season.

Things didn't start out nearly as well as they finished for the Mountaineers, as Northern Iowa scored on its opening possession with a 50-yard field goal by Brian Wingert. The longest kick in I-AA Championship Game history capped off a nine-play, 41-yard drive.

On the ensuing kickoff, UNI recovered an Appalachian fumble and doubled its advantage to 6-0 just 5:15 into the game on a 26-yard field goal by Wingert.

UNI would keep the six-point lead until Richardson carried the ball in from five yards out to put ASU up 7-6 after the extra point by Julian Rauch.

However, the Panthers capitalized on another Mountaineer turnover, scoring from two yards out on a run by David Horne after picking off an Elder pass on ASU's 41 yard line. The Panthers added another tally before halftime on Wingert's third field goal of the half, this one from 31 yards out with 1:09 left on the clock to give the Panthers a 16-7 advantage.

Despite Richardson's second touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter, ASU continued to trail until less 10 minutes remained in the ballgame, when Murrell and Hunter elevated their play to another level.

Wreaking havoc in the backfield like they did for much of the evening, Murrell sacked Panther quarterback Eric Sanders on the UNI 15 to force a fumble that Hunter scooped up and carried to paydirt for his third touchdown of the season.

Hunter and Murrell made sure the 21-16 advantage stood up as Murrell forced a fumble and Hunter sacked Sanders to force a punt on UNI's next possession.

The Appalachian defense came up big once again on the Panthers last possession of the game by holding the Panthers inside their own 30 yard line and forcing a punt with three minutes left.

The Williams-led ASU offense rattled off a pair of first downs on its final possession to ensure that UNI didn't have another chance to score. Thousands of the very pro-ASU crowd of 20,236 stormed the field as Williams took a knee on the final play to celebrate the school's first-ever national championship.

In his final game in the Black and Gold, wide receiver Zach Johnson enjoyed a career day with six catches for 101 yards. Fellow senior Brandon Turner chipped in with four receptions for 78 yards, while Richardson led the Apps on the ground with 51 yards and the two scores.

Appalachian ends its historic season with a 12-3 overall record, tying the school record for wins in a season set by the 1995 squad that went 12-1. Northern Iowa finishes its season at 11-4 overall after capturing a share of the Gateway Football Conference title.