Chattanooga. Still get chills thinking about it.

What an amazing night. Sophomore year, still get chills as well.

GO APPS!!

I don't know if fans who weren't around then can really conceive of what it felt like to win that first one. Just a couple years later, we had become the Goliath that dominated FCS, and of course all the FBS success that eventually followed. But prior to that year, we were the always-good, never-the-best program. Saw Marshall and GS win a bunch of titles while we usually made the playoffs, won our share of SoCon titles, but never made it to the national title game. Even beating Furman to make the final felt like a momentous achievement. (Still one of my favorite in-person sports memories ever.)

Needless to say, that first title changed everything.

Yep to all of the above. To me( I’m 73) most of my adult life was spent , living and dying with each game. Year after year and yes, that Furman Game was something special. in the end the National Championship game was and is still like a dream.

I was there. It was a really big deal!

Hunter and Murrell.....will never forget that duo.

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 6:17 pm

I don't know if fans who weren't around then can really conceive of what it felt like to win that first one. Just a couple years later, we had become the Goliath that dominated FCS, and of course all the FBS success that eventually followed. But prior to that year, we were the always-good, never-the-best program. Saw Marshall and GS win a bunch of titles while we usually made the playoffs, won our share of SoCon titles, but never made it to the national title game. Even beating Furman to make the final felt like a momentous achievement. (Still one of my favorite in-person sports memories ever.)

Needless to say, that first title changed everything.

And all it took was Moore finally opening up to some changes and Peacock getting rid of Roachel Laney. Gives me chills too.

dtrain4prez wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:22 pm

Hunter and Murrell.....will never forget that duo.

Imagine the money they could have gotten in the portal. Thank goodness it was not around then.

AppStFan1 wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:51 pm

dtrain4prez wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 8:22 pm

Hunter and Murrell.....will never forget that duo.

Imagine the money they could have gotten in the portal. Thank goodness it was not around then.

Ha, I dont even want to think about that. 05 would have been our only chip and the magical run over the next decade wouldn't have happened. I truly belive if the portal already existed we would still be FCS.

Boone forever changed after that too. I can still remember a decent amount about our chips years but I have to admit some memories have faded and some I'm pretty sure were faded as I was making them.

It was an amazing night, that first win was something else. It was so nice to finally reach the level that our peers had already achieved. I had previously seen Furman, Marshall and Georgia Southern all win National Titles, it was great to join that group after all those years. When Richie came in on that hobbled leg to lead us to victory, other worldly. I still get goosebumps thinking about that.

That morning I had to rock my car out of the ice in the old Stadium Lot and drove to Nooga, where I got stuck in the mud parking at that small church across from the stadium.

The Hunter scoop and score was right in front of me. And I was right next to Jerry when he got the trophy.

I was a junior that year, so I’ve been spoiled most of my App life.

A couple things I remember (besides Ingle Martin slipping on that wonderful patch of ice):

Our team taking the exceptional Jamarcus Russel-led LSU tigers deep into the 4th quarter in Baton Rouge.

The absolutely miserable conditions at Kidd Brewer for the Southern Illinois first round game. It did nothing but rain, and I’m convinced the temperature stayed at 33 the entire game for the perfect November Boone experience. I stood in the stands with a liquor blanket on, cheering until the very end.

ah59396 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 17, 2025 2:58 am

I was a junior that year, so I’ve been spoiled most of my App life.

A couple things I remember (besides Ingle Martin slipping on that wonderful patch of ice):

Our team taking the exceptional Jamarcus Russel-led LSU tigers deep into the 4th quarter in Baton Rouge.

The absolutely miserable conditions at Kidd Brewer for the Southern Illinois first round game. It did nothing but rain, and I’m convinced the temperature stayed at 33 the entire game for the perfect November Boone experience. I stood in the stands with a liquor blanket on, cheering until the very end.

All great memories! I swear the ONLY time we ever stopped Jerome Felton for a loss or no gain in 4 years was at the end of that Furman game at the goal line. When we got the fumble to seal the game, my roommate and I fell off the bleachers we were going so wild.

And yes, we still talk about the weather for that southern Illinois game. Rain/sleet all game long, cold as crap, and the bleachers had a 1/2” of ice on them when we arrived at KBS.

Man, that feeling when Jason Hunter scooped up that fumble and rumbled in for the score. You had to be there. No way to describe it!

GO APPS!!

I'm not crying, you're crying.

It was quite a night. Seems like forever ago , or was it just yesterday……

Stonewall wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 17, 2025 7:44 am

It was quite a night. Seems like forever ago , or was it just yesterday……

I watched it at home and was jumping, screaming, clapping and generally embarrassing my family. I did not care, we won! I was so jacked that by the end of January 2006 I had already made hotel reservations in Chattanooga and as soon as championship game tickets went on sale I bought two. This was long before the end of the regular season, I was so confident that we'd be there again. I also told my entire family that should we make the game again, do not plan any family Christmas gatherings that weekend. I said if you do I won't be there, I'll be in Chattanooga watching our boys win again! As it turned out I was not only right about the second ring I was right about the third one as well because I did it again!

The beginning of a dynasty.

scatman77 wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 17, 2025 8:45 am

Stonewall wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 17, 2025 7:44 am

It was quite a night. Seems like forever ago , or was it just yesterday……

I watched it at home and was jumping, screaming, clapping and generally embarrassing my family. I did not care, we won! I was so jacked that by the end of January 2006 I had already made hotel reservations in Chattanooga and as soon as championship game tickets went on sale I bought two. This was long before the end of the regular season, I was so confident that we'd be there again. I also told my entire family that should we make the game again, do not plan any family Christmas gatherings that weekend. I said if you do I won't be there, I'll be in Chattanooga watching our boys win again! As it turned out I was not only right about the second ring I was right about the third one as well because I did it again!

Did you do the same in 2008? I'll never forget that Richmond playoff game. It was surreal with the peaceful snow coming down while recognizing in the 4th quarter that our run was over.

I returned back to Boone in November '04 and re-enrolled January '05 after being out of state for 2.5 years, just in time for the run! Ended up in classes with several players. Those guys were bummed after their performance in Lawrence and even more disappointed after the showing in Greenville. However, after they put up a fight down in Baton Rouge and felt they missed on some opportunities, you could tell a light switch had been turned on. They finished the season strong, putting up nearly 90 points in the final 2 games of the regular season.

That 1st round game against the Salukis might be one of the most miserable game experiences with cold rain/light wintery mix coming down the entire time. The following week the Paladins traveled up the mountain. When Richie went down in the 1st, you could feel the air get sucked out of the stadium. I looked at my roommate and told him that we need to come out and run play action on the 1st play. You knew they'd load up to stop KRich and we had to do something to counter it. Low and behold, Elder steps in on the 1st play with like a 50 yard strike to Jackson. KBS erupted and was probably the loudest I had ever heard it to that point! The 2nd quarter was brutal to watch. Furman put up 2 quick scores to open the 2nd and finished with 10 points in the final minutes of the half. I distinctly remember Felton just absolutely steam rolling Lynch on a goal line run to score his 2nd TD. When Furman drove down inside the 10 twice during the 3rd quarter, we knew it was do or die. The defense along with the football gods stood tall in the south endzone with the glorious slip and fall and shutting Felton down for a loss on 4th down. Elder goes on to cement his legacy with like a 10 play drive and the go-ahead score. The crowd is going nuts but the Paladins were not done as they drove down into App St territory with less than a minute to go before Jason Hunter makes one of the biggest plays in ASU history and big Omarr Byrom almost gets the scope and score before going out around the goal line.

ABSOLUTE CINEMA! PANDAMONIUM! We rushed the field, tore down the goal posts and carried them all over campus before the police stopped us on Howard St.

Not to be outdone, Richie pulls a Leftwich in the 2nd half and wills us down the field. Zach Johnson makes what I consider one of the all-time catches for App State when he leapt up in traffic and came down with the ball for a 1st down. Murrell and Hunter played possessed in the 4th quarter wreaking havoc in the backfield and ultimately making the game winning play with the forced fumble sack, scope n score! The stadium went absolutely bananas!!! The best early b-day gift ever!

IIRC (my numbers may be a bit fuzzy), Murrell and Hunter had a crazy combined stat line between the 2 in the championship; something like 20 total tackles, 8 TFL's, 4 sacks, 2 FF's, 1 FR, & 1 TD.

appst89 wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 16, 2025 6:02 pm

Chattanooga. Still get chills thinking about it.

Got married that May. We won in December, Texas (wife's alma mater) wins a few days later.

It was a good year.