text: 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. 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 . the point spread favored fresno state as 12 - point favorites over the mustangs . contrary to 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 and fresno state 's davante adams , who totaled 13 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown , were named the game 's co - most valuable player ( mvp ) . teams conference usa has had its tie - in to the hawaii bowl ever since the game 's establishment in 2002 . the mountain west conference started its 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 its 3 - 9 record in 2012 , it was not bowl - eligible , leaving the spot to the fifth bowl - eligible mountain west team . the 2012 hawaii bowl was the seventh meeting between fresno state and smu , the last one coming in 2004 . this was 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 their first since the program was relaunched in 1989 after being shut down for two years due to massive ncaa rules violations ) . it also was the mustangs ' final game as a member of conference usa before they moved 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 ( zach 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 ) . many analysts predicted that fresno state would emerge victorious , some going as far as to predict a blowout , but said that for smu to emerge victorious , they would have to win the field position battle as well as create turnovers . 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 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 broken 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 the 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 , , 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 fresno state 's 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 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 had totaled 4 , 185 rushing yards and 37 touchdowns in his career coming into the game . 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 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 . coach june jones ' spread offense did 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 davis , who totaled 77 tackles during the season . the mustangs were prolific in turnovers 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 ) . despite their success with turnovers , the mustangs were far more mediocre in scoring defense , in which they allowed 25 . 7 points per game ( tied for 54th nationally ) , and total defense , in which they gave up 396 . 1 yards per game ( 62nd nationally ) . game summary game notes first quarter smu received 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 ; hunt 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 that 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 had received 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 - yard 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 threw 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 ; the drive included a 27 - yard rush by zach line as well as a 19 - yard pass from gilbert to der 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 threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns to reed and hayden , 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 in 1982 . scoring summary statistics team statistics individual statistics passing rushing receiving source :