2012 Hawaii Bowl The 2012 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was a post - season American college football bowl game held on December 24 , 2012 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu , Hawaii in the United States . The eleventh edition of the Hawaii Bowl began at 3 : 00 p . m . HST and aired on ESPN . It featured the SMU Mustangs from Conference USA against the Mountain West Conference co - champion Fresno State Bulldogs , and was the final game of the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season for both teams . The Mustangs accepted their invitation after earning a 6 - 6 record in the regular season , while the Bulldogs accepted their invitation after a 9 - 3 regular season record . The pre - game buildup focused primarily on the strong rushing attacks of both teams as well as the overall sound offense of Fresno State . Most analysts predicted a resounding victory by Fresno State , but said that for SMU to emerge victorious , they would have to win the field position battle as well as create turnovers . The point spread favored Fresno State as 12 - point favorites over the Mustangs . Contrary to the aforementioned predictions , SMU won the game by a score of 43 - 10 , largely thanks to the play of defensive end Margus Hunt , who forced two fumbles and totaled three sacks ( including one safety ) as well as two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns . Consequently , Hunt was named the game ' s most valuable player ( MVP ) along with Fresno State ' s Davante Adams , who totaled 13 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown . Teams . Conference USA has had its tie - in to the Hawaii Bowl ever since the game ' s establishment in 2002 . The Mountain West started their affiliation with the game when the hometown Hawaii Warriors moved to said conference ( previously , Hawaii , and said tie - in , belonged to the Western Athletic Conference ) . In fact , Hawaii has an automatic bid to the bowl game should it be eligible ; however , because of their 3 - 9 record in 2012 , they are not bowl - eligible , leaving the spot to the fifth bowl - eligible Mountain West team . This was the seventh meeting between these two teams , the last one coming in 2004 . This will be the Mustangs ' second Hawaii Bowl , following the 2009 game where they defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack by a score of 45 - 10 ( SMU ' s first bowl bid since playing in Hawaii in the 1984 Aloha Bowl , and more notably was their first since the program was relaunched in 1989 after being shut down for two years due to massive NCAA rules violations ) . It will also be the Mustangs ' final game as a member of Conference USA before they move to the Big East Conference in 2013 . Pregame buildup . One of the keys to the game , according to ESPN . com blogger Matt Fortuna , was to stop the run . Both teams had 1 , 000 + yard rushers ( Line for SMU , Robbie Rouse for Fresno State ) , but SMU ' s rush defense ( 24th in FBS ) was better than Fresno State ' s ( 73rd in FBS ) . Almost all analysts predicted that Fresno State would emerge victorious , some going as far as to predict a blowout . Fresno State . In their first season in the Mountain West , the Bulldogs became co - champions with a 7 - 1 conference record . This was the Bulldogs ' first appearance in the Hawaii Bowl . Coming into the 2012 season , Bulldogs ' coach Tim DeRuyter said that his team would challenge for a Mountain West Conference title . After making good on that promise , the Bulldogs attempted to achieve their first bowl victory since the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl . A victory in the Hawaii Bowl would have given Fresno State a 10 - win season for the first time since 2001 , when quarterback Derek Carr ' s older brother David was the Bulldogs ' quarterback . Offense . Fresno State was led offensively by their quarterback , junior Derek Carr , who finished 14th in the country in quarterback rating ( 155 . 9 ) , 8th in passing yards ( 4 , 104 ) , and tied for 3rd in touchdowns ( 37 ) . Carr was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year and announced before the game that he would return to Fresno State to play his senior season . The Bulldogs were riding a five - game winning streak coming into the game ; the fewest points they scored during any game of that streak was 42 . The Bulldogs ' rushing attack was led by 5 - foot , 7 - inch ( 1 . 70 m ) 190 - pound ( 86 kg ) senior running back Robbie Rouse , who rushed for 1490 yards , which ranked 14th in the country . Rouse , who rushed for over 100 yards in nine games during the regular season , was also Fresno State ' s second - leading receiver ( in terms of receptions ) catching the ball 63 times for 435 yards . Carr ' s top target in the passing game was redshirt freshman wideout Davante Adams , who had broke several school records during his freshman year including becoming just the seventh freshman in school history to record over 100 yards receiving in a single game and setting single - game school record for a freshman by recording 12 receptions against Oregon . In total , Adams amassed 102 catches for 1312 yards and 14 touchdowns , all of which led the team . His efforts earned him a spot on Phil Steele ' s fourth - team All - America squad and accolades as the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year . Fresno State ' s starter at tight end was senior Marcel Jensen , who totaled 20 receptions for 339 yards and 4 touchdowns , all of which were career highs . Jensen was an honorable mention all - conference honoree . The Bulldogs ' offensive line was anchored by junior left tackle Austin Wentworth , who achieved first - team all - conference honors . Defense . Described as " well - rounded and explosive " by SBNation . com , Fresno State ' s defense was paramount to their success during the season . Their 3 - 4 defense was installed by their first year coach , DeRuyter , and proved effective throughout the season . They finished third in the NCAA in interceptions , amassing 22 of them . 8 of those 22 interceptions came from their defensive leader , Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year , first team All - American , and NCAA leader in interceptions senior safety Phillip Thomas , who also recorded a career high 82 tackles and finished second on the team with 4 sacks , the second - most by a defensive back in the country . Fresno State ' s defense was also successful rushing the passer ; they finished ninth in the NCAA in sacks with 39 of them . Fresno State ' s front seven was led by sophomore Tyeler Davison , who achieved first team all - conference accolades and recorded six tackles for loss during the season . The Bulldogs ' leader in sacks was junior nose tackle Andy Jennings , who achieved 5 . 5 of them . The Bulldogs ' linebackers were led by senior Travis Brown . Brown totaled 68 tackles and was a first team all - conference selection . SMU . Coming into the 2012 season , SMU was widely expected to finish third in the Conference USA West Division . They exceeded that expectation by finishing second in the C - USA West and earning a bid to the Hawaii Bowl . A year after his season ended due to a foot injury , running back Zach Line was poised to have a breakout year and was expected to win the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year award . Offense . At quarterback , University of Texas transfer Garrett Gilbert started for the Mustangs and struggled ; he totaled a 53 % completion percentage , 15 touchdowns , and 15 interceptions , the latter of which was tied for ninth - most in the NCAA . The Mustangs ' offensive leader was three - time All - Conference USA player and 2012 Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year running back Zach Line , who has totaled 4 , 185 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns in his career . Line was also the Mustangs ' fourth leading receiver ( in terms of receptions ) totaling 33 for 229 yards . SMU ' s wide receiving corps featured a trio of standouts : senior Darius Johnson , junior Jeremy Johnson , and sophomore Der ' rikk Thompson . The former Johnson , who is one of just two SMU players ever to record three 60 - catch seasons , led the Mustangs with 787 receiving yards from 64 receptions which included 5 touchdowns . The latter Johnson totaled 67 receptions , which led the team , for 679 yards and 3 touchdowns . Thompson , who led the trio by averaging 13 . 0 yards per reception , caught the ball 41 times for 535 yards and 4 touchdowns during the regular season . June Jones ' spread offense does not employ a tight end , and none were on the roster for the Mustangs . The Mustangs ' offensive line was led by senior Bryan Collins , who achieved 2nd team all - conference honors . Defense . The Mustangs were defensively anchored by senior defensive end Margus Hunt , who achieved eight sacks en route to a first - team all conference selection . Prior to the game , there was significant hype surrounding the defensive matchup between Fresno State ' s Davante Adams and SMU ' s cornerback junior Kenneth Acker , who intercepted the ball three times during the season . Acker achieved second - team all conference accolades . SMU ' s defense also had an all - conference honoree in the linebacking corps , senior Ja ' Gared Davis , who totaled 77 tackles during the season . The Mustangs were prolific in the turnover department and led the Football Bowl Subdivision ( FBS ) in interceptions returned for touchdowns ( 8 ) , tied for fourth in interceptions ( 21 ) , and finished third in total takeaways ( 37 ) . Though the Mustangs were prolific in the turnover department , they were far more mediocre in scoring defense , where they allowed 25 . 7 points per game ( tied for 54th nationally ) , and total defense , where they gave up 396 . 1 yards per game ( 62nd nationally ) . Game summary . Game notes . First quarter . SMU got the ball to start the game and marched down the field on an 8 - play , 52 - yard drive highlighted by a 37 - yard run by quarterback Garrett Gilbert to set up a 41 - yard field goal attempt by Chase Hover which he missed . Fresno State ' s subsequent drive lasted only two series and ended in a punt . The remainder of the first quarter ' s drives ended in punts . There were a total of three drives that went three - and - out in the quarter , two by SMU and one by Fresno State . Second quarter . SMU struck first in the second quarter via a 17 - yard rush from Gilbert , their quarterback , to put the Bulldogs up 7 - 0 . Fresno State ' s ensuing drive started with a first down , but ended when quarterback Derek Carr was sacked by SMU defender Margus Hunt who forced a fumble that was recovered by the Mustangs at the Fresno State 16 yard line . SMU gained only three yards on their drive , but due to their excellent field position , kicker Chase Hover was able to convert a 30 - yard field goal making it 10 - 0 . Fresno State ' s offensive woes continued on their next drive . On second down , Carr was sacked for a loss of 18 yards to the 6 - yard line . On third down , Hunt recorded another sack which resulted in a safety to make the score 12 - 0 SMU . Zach Line rushed for an 8 - yard touchdown to cap an 11 - play , 67 - yard drive after the safety . This made the score 19 - 0 . Hunt continued his fantastic first half performance on Fresno State ' s next drive forcing running back Robbie Rouse to fumble . It was recovered by safety Taylor Reed . Hover kicked a 48 - yard field goal to make the score 22 - 0 . Fresno State finally started to put together a solid drive at the end of the half including three consecutive first down passes from Carr to Isaiah Burse for 16 yards , Greg Watson for 12 yards , and Davante Adams for 33 yards respectively which set up first and goal at the three yard line with 0 : 39 remaining in the half . The Bulldogs failed to execute , however , and ended the half without scoring at all . The final play of the half was a pass to tight end Marcel Jensen in the end zone , but he dropped the ball , thus ending the scoring threat . Third quarter . Since SMU got the ball to start the game , Fresno State got possession to start the second half . The first play from scrimmage of the half was a 38 - yard pass from Carr to Burse which got the Bulldogs up to the Mustangs ' 41 yard line . The drive stalled from there , however , after a six yard loss on a pass play , a false start penalty , a pass completed for no gain , and an incomplete pass . After a 42 - punt that was returned for 4 yards , SMU was set up at their 14 yard line . The ensuing drive for SMU showed promise after they got into Bulldog territory , but an interception by Sean Alston returned for 50 yards to the SMU 15 ended any chance of scoring for the Mustangs . Fresno State finally put points on the board after setting up in the red zone ; Carr through a 6 - yard pass to Adams making the score 22 - 7 after Quentin Breshears tacked on the point after . On the ensuing drive , SMU ran 7 plays for 75 yards in 3 : 20 in a drive that culminated with a 21 - yard touchdown pass from Gilbert to Darius Johnson and was highlighted by a 27 - yard rush by Zach Line as well as a 19 - yard pass from Gilbert to Der ' rikk Thompson . After the TD , the score was 29 - 7 SMU . The teams then exchanged punts for the remainder of the quarter . Fourth quarter . Fresno State was able to run a 7 - play , 72 - yard drive to begin the fourth quarter that culminated with a 32 - yard field goal by Breshears making the score 29 - 10 . Any chance of a Bulldog comeback was quashed after Carr through two interceptions returned for touchdowns to Reed and Hayden Greenbauer respectively , the latter of which came with just 1 : 14 to play . The final score was 43 - 10 , the Mustangs victorious . Post - game . SMU ' s resounding victory was considered an upset , and during the game , the Mustangs set a single - season record for most interceptions returned for a touchdown ( 8 ) surpassing the 2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team . Margus Hunt was named the game ' s most valuable player because of his two - forced fumble , three sack ( including one safety ) performance . In total , the Mustangs achieved seven sacks , the most Fresno State had surrendered in a single game all year . Davante Adams ' third quarter touchdown reception lengthened his streak to eight consecutive games with a touchdown reception , tying a Fresno State record that was set by Henry Ellard in 1982 .