2012 New Mexico Bowl The 2012 Gildan New Mexico Bowl was a post - season American college football bowl game that was held on December 15 , 2012 at University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque , New Mexico in the United States . The seventh edition of the New Mexico Bowl began at 11 : 00 a . m . MST and aired on ESPN . It featured the Nevada Wolf Pack , who represented the Mountain West Conference , against the Arizona Wildcats , who represented the Pacific - 12 Conference . The Wolf Pack accepted their invitation with a 7 – 4 record in their first eleven games of the season , while the Wildcats accepted their invitation after finishing the regular season at 7 – 5 . The bowl was the first of 35 played in the 2012 - 13 bowl game season . Coming into the game , both teams had sound offenses and were led by their respective running backs , sophomore Ka ' Deem Carey for Arizona and senior Stefphon Jefferson for Nevada , who ranked number one and number two respectively in total rushing yards during the regular season . Arizona and Nevada ranked third and fourth respectively in total offense . Both teams ' defenses were ranked towards the bottom of college football . Consequently , the game was widely expected to be high - scoring . Arizona won the game 49 – 48 after scoring two touchdowns in the final two minutes to comeback for the victory . As expected , the game was dominated by offense ; Arizona and Nevada combined for 1234 total yards and 70 first downs . Despite losing the game , Nevada possessed the ball nearly twice as long and gained twice as many rushing yards as Arizona . Arizona quarterback Matt Scott was named the game ' s offensive most valuable player ( MVP ) , and teammate Marquis Flowers , a linebacker , was named the game ' s defensive MVP . Teams . The New Mexico Bowl is played annually at the campus stadium of the University of New Mexico , a founding member of the Mountain West Conference which has had a tie - in since the game ' s establishment in 2006 . 2012 was the first year of the Pac - 12 ' s tie in . The game featured the nation ' s top rushers , Arizona ' s All - American Ka ' Deem Carey ( 146 . 4 ypg ) and Nevada ' s Stefphon Jefferson ( 141 . 9 ypg ) . It also featured Arizona quarterback Matt Scott ( 3 , 723 total offense yards ) and Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo ( 3 , 511 total offense yards ) . This was the fourth meeting between these two teams . Arizona leads the all - time record 2 - 1 - 1 . The last time they played was in 1941 . Arizona . Arizona came off of a 7 - 5 ( 4 - 5 in conference ) season in coach Rich Rodriguez ' s debut with the team . Arizona started their season by beating Toledo , Oklahoma State , and South Carolina State prior to getting blown out 49 - 0 by Oregon . Later in the season , Arizona beat USC who was ranked # 9 . Star running back Ka ' Deem Carey had his best game of the year against Colorado totaling 366 yards to give the Wildcats their sixth win of the season . Their regular season concluded with a loss to rival Arizona State 41 - 34 . The 2012 edition was the first appearance in the bowl for both Arizona and for the Pac - 12 . Arizona , seventh best in the nation in total offense ( 521 . 83 ypg ) , was led by quarterback Matt Scott ( 338 . 45 ypg , 3 , 238 yards passing ) , All - American running back Ka ' Deem Carey who led the nation in rushing ( 146 . 42 ypg ) and set a school record with his 1 , 757 rushing yards , good for 21 touchdowns , and wide receiver Austin Hill who totaled 1 , 189 yards . 2012 was the first season in Arizona ' s history during which they had a 3000 - yard passer , a 1000 - yard rusher , and a 1000 - yard receiver . Senior place kicker John Bonano was named the 2012 Pac - 12 Football Scholar - Athlete of the Year ( Physiology major with a 3 . 927 GPA ) . Nevada . The Wolf Pack came off their inaugural season as a member of the Mountain West , during which they compiled a conference record of 4 - 3 , good for fifth place in the conference . They began their season by defeating rival California 31 - 24 . After losing to South Florida by a single point , Nevada won five consecutive games to achieve bowl eligibility . The Wolf Pack then dropped three of their final four to bring their record to 7 - 5 . After defeating the New Mexico Lobos to improve their record to 7 - 4 , the Wolf Pack accepted an invitation to the New Mexico Bowl . Nevada coach Chris Ault was one of three members of the College Football Hall of Fame to lead a team into a bowl game , along with Barry Alvarez ( Wisconsin interim coach ) and Steve Spurrier ( South Carolina ) . Nevada ' s senior receiver Brandon Wimberly had caught a pass in all 39 games of his college career . This was the Wolf Pack ' s second New Mexico Bowl ; they had previously played in the 2007 edition ( then as a member of the Western Athletic Conference ) , losing to the hometown New Mexico Lobos by a score of 23 - 0 . Pregame buildup . This was the first bowl of the 2012 - 13 College Football Bowl season . Prior to 2012 , the teams had not met since 1941 despite their close proximity . In 1941 , Arizona beat Nevada 26 – 7 . Overall , the series record prior to the game was 1 – 1 – 1 . Arizona , who had appeared in a bowl game in four of the previous five seasons , made the Pac - 12 ' s first appearance in the New Mexico Bowl . Nevada made its eighth consecutive bowl appearance and second all - time in the New Mexico Bowl . Offense . Coming into the game , Arizona and Nevada were two of the top offenses in the country , ranking 7th and 10th in yards per game respectively . There was also significant hype surrounding the game because it featured two of the best running backs in the country , Ka ' Deem Carey for Arizona , and Stefphon Jefferson for Nevada . Carey was ranked number one in the country in total rushing yards , while Jefferson was ranked number two . The duo were also prolific scorers ; Jefferson was second in the country in rushing touchdowns with 25 and Carey was third with 24 . The game was widely expected to be a shoot - out , as both teams were in the top - 20 scoring offenses in the regular season . Defense . There were very low expectations for the defenses ; the over / under was set at 75 . 5 total points . During the regular season , both defenses were ranked in the bottom 30 ( out of 120 ) in points allowed . Despite having three players on the All - Mountain West team , Nevada allowed opponents to convert third downs 47 . 2 % of the time ( 107th in the country ) . Arizona was led defensively during the regular season by Jake Fischer , who accumulated 119 total tackles , while Nevada was led by Albert Rosette who totaled 135 regular season tackles . Game summary . First quarter . Nevada methodically moved down the field on their first drive and scored first on a 16 - yard run by Stefphon Jefferson to cap off an 8 - play , 75 - yard drive . Later in the quarter , the Wolf Pack took a 14 - 0 lead following a 17 - yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cody Fajardo to Zach Sudfeld . Arizona fumbled on the ensuing kickoff . On the first play of their drive , Nevada took a 21 - 0 lead on a 28 - yard touchdown pass to Sudfeld . All - American running back Ka ' Deem Carey finally got Arizona on the board with a 21 - yard touchdown run late in the first quarter . Second quarter . In the second quarter , Arizona outscored Nevada 21 - 10 . Taking advantage of two Nevada turnovers , an interception thrown by Cody Fajardo and a fumble by Stefphon Jefferson , Arizona was able to tie the game at 21 with one - yard touchdown runs by Matt Scott and Carey , respectively . Nevada regained the lead on a 14 - yard rushing touchdown by Jefferson , but Arizona tied the game once again on a 9 - yard Carey touchdown run , his third of the game . Nevada enjoyed a three point lead at the half after a 27 field goal by Allen Hardison capped off a 16 - play , 65 yard drive and made the score 31 - 28 . Third quarter . After kicking off to start the game , Arizona got the ball first in the second half . Their first drive went three - and - out . After a 51 - yard punt , Nevada took over at their own 11 yard line . They put together an 11 play , 89 yard drive that culminated with a 33 yard touchdown pass from Cody Fajardo to Richy Turner . During the course of throwing the touchdown pass , Fajardo hurt his hand and was seen shaking it on his way to the end zone to celebrate the score . He returned for Nevada ' s next offensive drive . Arizona ' s next drive got them into Nevada territory , but an interception thrown by Matt Scott ended any hopes of scoring . Nevada took the field and drove 84 yards down the field on 15 plays . Near the end of the drive once Nevada was inside the 10 yard line , Fajardo ran the ball for a gain of three yards . During the course of the play , he took a hit to the head from an Arizona defender . He exited the game for one play , but subsequently returned on that drive and scored a one - yard rushing touchdown . Arizona was held scoreless in the quarter , and heading into the final quarter of regulation , Nevada possessed a 45 - 28 lead . Fourth quarter . Arizona came in to the fourth quarter trailing Nevada by 17 points . Arizona was able to cut the lead to 45 - 35 on a 63 - yard touchdown pass from Scott to Austin Hill soon after the 4th quarter began . Nevada then took a 48 - 35 lead on a 25 - yard field goal from Hardison , for a 13 point lead with only 1 : 44 left in regulation time . Arizona , with no timeouts and needing two scores to win the game , was able to cut the lead down to 48 - 42 with only 42 seconds left in regulation on a short touchdown pass from Scott to Hill . After Marquis Flowers successfully recovered the onside kick , Arizona quickly scored with another short Scott touchdown pass , this time to Tyler Slavin , to take tie the game at 48 with only 19 seconds left in regulation . Prior to the extra point attempt , Nevada coach Chris Ault called his final timeout to try to ice kicker John Bonano . The tactic was unsuccessful , as Bonano made the extra point to give Arizona a one - point lead . Arizona held on to the lead after Arizona ' s Flowers intercepted a Fajardo pass with a few seconds remaining in the game . Aftermath . On December 28 , 2012 , nearly two weeks after the bowl game , Nevada head coach Chris Ault announced that he would retire from his position as head football coach at Nevada . To date , no successor has been named .