HONOLULU -- Nevada proved Central Florida wasn't the only team to have an amazing turnaround this season.
Jeff Rowe scored on a 4-yard naked bootleg in overtime to lead the Wolf Pack to a 49-48 victory over the Golden Knights in the Hawaii Bowl on Saturday night.
UCF kicker Matt Prater, who had three field goals during the game, missed the tying extra point wide right, giving the Nevada the win and sending Wolf Pack players running on the field as stunned Central Florida looked on.
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 Central Florida's bowl debut.
"We knew it was going to be a hard fight," Robert Hubbard said. "The guys just never gave up and we survived. We had an amazing comeback. It's a Cinderella season for us as well."
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.
Matt 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 Brandon Marshall's dramatic catch that sent the game into overtime.
"I guess it hurts a little more because this is my last game," said Brandon Marshall, who earned MVP honors for his team with 11 catches for 210 yards and three touchdowns.
Trailing 32-28, the Wolf Pack took the lead on Robert Hubbard's 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. Nevada scored again on Jeff Rowe's 7-yard scoring pass to Travis Branzell for a 42-32 lead with 3:18 remaining.
However, Central Florida 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.
"It feels like a bad dream. To lose like this is unbelievable," said Jason Peters, who had 44 yards rushing for the Golden Knights.
Matt Prater, who had field goals of 47, 40 and 46 yards and converted all three of his extra point attempts in regulation, refused to answer questions in the locker room.
"They should feel bad. That's what winning and losing is all about," UCF coach George O'Leary said. "You put in so much time and when you do lose a game, it hurts."
Kevin Smith had 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns including a 19-yarder in overtime for the Golden Knights, who went 700 days without a win before defeating Brandon Marshall 23-13 in the third game of the season.
The Golden Knights took a 32-28 lead late in the third quarter on Smith's 3-yard scoring run. The touchdown capped a six-play, 74-yard drive that was kept alive by a late hit, pass interference and roughing the passer penalties against Nevada.
Earlier in the quarter, Brandon Marshall caught a short pass from Steven Moffett, juked a defender and stiff-armed his way into the end zone for a 29-yard score to pull the Golden Knights to 28-26.
After a slow start, the Wolf Pack had three straight touchdowns in the second quarter, including a pair of 1-yard scoring runs by B.J. Mitchell. His second gave Nevada its first lead of the game, 21-17, and Robert Hubbard's 24-yard TD run put the Wolf Pack up by 11.
Nevada, making its first postseason appearance since the 1996 Las Vegas Bowl and sixth overall, had a 28-20 lead at halftime.
"We are not a big, great talented team, but we play with this big heart," said Nevada coach Chris Ault, the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year.
The Wolf Pack, who shared the Western Athletic Conference title with Boise State, had 219 yards rushing in the first half, including 102 by B.J. Mitchell and 83 by Robert Hubbard.
The Golden Knights wasted no time in their bowl debut, scoring on their first three possessions.
Brandon Marshall made a one-handed, juggling catch for a 51-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the game. On UCF's next series, Smith broke a 78-yard TD run along the right sideline to put the Golden Knights up 14-0. The run was the longest of Smith's young career and the second best in UCF history behind Elgin Davis' 79-yard run in 1986.
Smith carried eight times for 117 rushing yards in the first quarter.
Nevada got on the scoreboard on Robert Hubbard's 4-yard TD run that cut Central Florida's lead to a touchdown with 8:33 left in the first. The score was setup by a 59-yard run by B.J. Mitchell.
Robert Hubbard's 49-yard run helped setup Nevada's first touchdown of the 21-point second quarter. He found a hole in the middle of the line and was dragged down by Johnell Neal at Central Florida's 1. B.J. Mitchell scored on the next play, powering through the line, to draw Nevada within a field goal.
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