HONOLULU (AP) - Jeff Rowe scored on a 4-yard naked bootleg in overtime to lead Nevada to a 49-48 victory over UCF in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.
UCF kicker Matt Prater, who had three field goals during the game, missed the game-tying extra point wide right, giving the Wolf Pack the win.
Nevada players poured on the field as UCF players looked stunned.
B.J. Mitchell ran for 178 yards and two touchdowns, and Robert Hubbard had 126 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the Wolf Pack (9-3), who finished with their best season since 1996 and spoiled UCF's bowl debut.
UCF's Brandon Marshall caught a 16-yard pass for a touchdown that tied the game at 42 with 55 seconds left. The score capped a four-play, 48-yard drive that took just 37 seconds.
Prater booted a 46-yard field goal with 1:32 left to draw UCF to 42-35, and the Golden Knights recovered the onside kick with no time-outs left and setting up Marshall's dramatic catch that sent the game into overtime.
Trailing 32-28, the Wolf Pack took the lead on Hubbard's 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Nevada scored again on Rowe's 7-yard scoring pass to Travis Branzell for a 42-32 lead with 3:18 remaining.
However, UCF refused to give up.
Earlier this season, the Golden Knights (8-5) ended what was the nation's longest Division I-A losing streak at 17 games. After going 0-11 last year, they were trying to tie the 1940 Stanford team for the second-biggest, one-season turnaround in NCAA football history.
Kevin Smith had 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the Golden Knights, who went 700 days without a win before defeating Marshall 23-13 in the third game of the season.