Southern Mississippi head coach Larry Fedora holds up the 2011 Hawaii Bowl trophy after an NCAA college football game Saturday in Honolulu. — AP HONOLULU — Southern Mississippi quarterback Austin Davis threw two touchdowns, including one late in the game which clinched a 24-17 win over Nevada in college football's Hawaii Bowl Saturday, giving the Golden Eagles a school-record 12th victory of the season. Davis overcame a shaky start for the Conference USA champion and the defense in the second half managed to shut down Nevada's potent pistol attack led by Lampford Mark. Davis was off most of the night but made it count on the game-winning drive. On third-and-goal, he scrambled right and found Kelvin Bolden for the 4-yard score, capping a seven-play, 68-yard drive. He had just 59 yard passing at halftime and finished 18 of 41 for 165 yards. On the winning drive, Davis was 3 of 4 for 66 yards, including a 43-yard completion to Dominique Sullivan down the right sideline and a 19-yarder to a crossing William Spight. Sullivan had five catches for 75 yards. With Davis held in check, the Golden Eagles relied on their defense, stopping Mark on fourth-and-1 at midfield with 3:56 left. Mark had 183 yards rushing for the Wolf Pack (7-6) but was held to just 21 yards in the second half. Cody Fajardo was 8 of 19 for 60 yards for Nevada. He also was held to just 14 yards rushing on nine carries before being replaced by Tyler Lantrip. It was the final game for Southern Miss under coach Larry Fedora, who is leaving after four seasons to take over at North Carolina. The Golden Eagles got another big win after capturing their fifth C-USA title by upsetting previously unbeaten Houston in the conference championship game. This was the first 10-win season for Southern Miss since 1988. After a scoreless opening quarter, special teams got the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard from a blocked punt by Tim Green early in the second. Green burst through the middle and leaped in the air, getting his hand on the ball as he flipped over a blocker. Tray Becton-Martin then dropped on the ball in the end zone, giving the Golden Eagles a 7-0 lead. Becton-Martin is the 25th different player to score for the Golden Eagles this year, which leads the nation. Nevada answered with a 5-yard touchdown run by Mark, who had a 25-yard scamper to begin the 81-yard drive. Mark had 41 yards rushing on the drive, en route to his sixth-straight game with 100 or more yards. The Wolf Pack went ahead 14-7 via Mark's 45-yard run with about 5 minutes left in the half. From the ensuing kickoff, Southern Miss' Lorenzo Devers returned 61 yards and appeared to be heading for a touchdown, getting past the kicker, but was stripped from behind by Khalid Wooten, and Thaddeus Brown returned the ball 16 yards to the Nevada 36-yard line. However, Nevada gambled on fourth-and-1 at its own 45 only to see Mark stopped short. That led to a 48-yard field goal by Southern Miss kicker Daniel Hrappman with 1:21 left in the half to make it 14-10. On the kickoff, Wooten fumbled and Southern Mississippi's Emmanuel Johnson recovered at the Nevada 24. Seven plays later, Davis threw a 2-yard pass to Lampley in the back of the end zone for the go-ahead score, putting the Golden Eagles up 17-14. A brief scuffle broke out between some of the players after the catch, but no one was ejected. Late in the third quarter, a Southern Miss miscue resulted in the game being tied 17-17. Lampley waved for a fair catch on a punt and was run into by a teammate. Nevada's Brandon Marshall recovered the loose ball on the Southern Miss 14, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Allen Hardison.
