The 2011 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, the tenth edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on Christmas Eve 2011, at Aloha Stadium in Halawa, Hawaii as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. It was telecast at 2:00 p.m. HT on ESPN and was sponsored by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. The game featured the Nevada Wolf Pack from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) versus the Southern Miss Golden Eagles from Conference USA (C-USA). Southern Miss defeated Nevada, 24–17. 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 an 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