2011 Hawaii Bowl The 2011 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl , the 10th edition of the game , was a post - season American college football bowl game , held on December 24 , 2011 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu , Hawaii as part of the 2011 – 12 NCAA Bowl season . The game , which telecast at 2 : 00 p . m . HT on ESPN , featured the Nevada Wolf Pack from the Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) versus the Southern Miss Golden Eagles from Conference USA . Teams . The Wolf Pack has played twice previously in the Sheraton Hawai ` i Bowl , defeating UCF in 2005 and losing to SMU in 2009 . Southern Miss is making its 22nd appearance in a bowl game and its second trip to Hawai ’ i . It defeated the host Rainbow Warriors 28 – 26 on October 15 , 1977 . Nevada . The Wolf Pack finished second in the WAC conference with a 7 – 5 record . The team was led by seven players who earned All - WAC honors , including WAC Freshman of the Year quarterback Cody Fajardo who operated with Nevada ' s effective pistol offense ( 523 yards per game ) and All - American defensive tackle Brett Roy . Southern Miss . USM entered the bowl game with a 11 – 2 record . The Golden Eagles upset the Houston Cougars in the 2011 Conference USA Football Championship Game 49 – 28 to win the conference championship . The 2011 Hawai ' i Bowl was Southern Mississippi ' s 10th straight bowl game . The game was also coach Larry Fedora ' s last game with the Golden Eagles , as he was hired to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels . The Golden Eagles were led by senior quarterback Austin Davis , who completed 10 , 727 yards during his career . Four running backs , Kendrick Hardy , Jeremy Hester , Jamal Woodyard , and Desmond Johnson , carried the loads , each had at least one 100 - yard game . Game summary . In the 1st quarter , Nevada threatened to score first when the Wolf Pack drove into the red zone . However , Cody Fajardo ' s pass was intercepted in the end zone , ending the drive . The rest of the 1st quarter remained scoreless . In the 2nd quarter , Southern Mississippi scored first when they blocked a punt in the end zone for a touchdown . Nevada responded with two rushing touchdowns from Lampford Mark , including one 45 - yard rushing touchdown , to make the game 14 - 7 . On the ensuing kickoff , Southern Miss ' s Jeremy Hester appeared to return the kickoff for a touchdown , but was stripped from behind by Nevada ' s Khalid Wooten and Thaddeus Brown . Nevada was unable to take advantage of the turnover , however , and turned the ball over on a 4th - and - 1 play on the Wolf Pack ' s own 45 - yard line . The Golden Eagles capitalized on their good field position to kick a field goal to cut the lead 14 - 10 with 1 : 21 left in the half . On the ensuing kickoff , Nevada ' s Khalid Wooten fumbled the kickoff and Southern Mississippi ' s Emmanuel Johnson recovered the ball at Nevada ' s 24 . The Golden Eagles used the good field position to score a touchdown to take the lead 17 - 14 going into the half . The second half was a defensive struggle for both teams . The Wolf Pack tied the game 17 - 17 in the 3rd quarter on a 37 - yard field goal . The Golden Eagles took the lead 24 - 17 with 5 : 48 left in the game on a 4 - yard touchdown pass from Austin Davis to Kelvin Bolden . On the ensuing drive , the Wolf Pack were stopped midfield on 4th - and - 1 with 3 : 56 left in the game . The Golden Eagles were able to get a few more first downs to preserve the victory . The 2011 Hawaii Bowl featured a record 17 punts and a record low 41 combined points . The win also gave the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles its first 12 - win season . Scoring summary . Source .