Rutgers took an early 7–0 lead after Ryan Hart lobbed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Clark Harris. Arizona State responded with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Rudy Carpenter to Matt Miller, tying the game at 7. Rutgers answered with a 31-yard strike from Ryan Hart to Brian Leonard, making it 14–7 Rutgers. Jeremy Ito's 25-yard field goal made it 17–7, and capped the first quarter of scoring.
In the second quarter, Jessee Ainsworth kicked a 20-yard field goal to pull the Sun Devils to within 17–10. With 2:30 left in the half, Brian Leonard scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, bumping the Knights' lead to 24–10. Arizona State responded with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Carpenter to tight end Zach Miller making it 24–17 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Rudy Burgess scored from 1 yard out for ASU to tie it at 24. Jeremy Ito's 27-yard field goal flipped the lead back over to Rutgers 27–24. Arizona State took its first lead of the game on a 22-yard pass from Carpenter to Terry Richardson, making it 31–27 ASU. Jeremy Ito's 52-yard field goal cut the lead to 31–30 for Rutgers.
In the fourth quarter, Rutgers took the lead on a 48-yard Jeremy Ito field goal, giving Rutgers a 33–31 lead. Arizona State came back with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Rudy Carpenter to Matt Miller, and a two-point conversion to make it 39–33 ASU. With 4:26 remaining in the game, Rudy Burgess scored from 4 yards out, but the 2-point conversion attempt failed, making it 45–33 ASU. With 2 minutes left, Ryan Hart threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Tres Moses making it 45–40 ASU. ASU then ran out the clock to claim the 2005 Insight Bowl.[1]
This would be last Insight Bowl played at Chase Field, as Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium would become the future host of the game.