The 2012 Sheraton Hawaii Bowl was a postseason American college football bowl game held on Christmas Eve 2012, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. The eleventh edition of the Hawaii Bowl, sponsored by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, 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 compiling a 6–6 record in the regular season, while the Bulldogs accepted their invitation with 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. Fresno State was a 12-point favorite 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 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.