The game, telecast on ESPN, featured the Nevada Wolf Pack from the WAC and the hometown New Mexico Lobos from the Mountain West Conference.
Punter Zachary Whited kicked the ball 47 yards and New Mexico took over on its 23–yard line to begin its second offensive possession of the game.
Punter Jordan Scott kicked the ball 35 yards, pinning Nevada at their own 10 to begin their second offensive drive.
On the second play, quarterback Colin Kaepernick connected with Marko Mitchell for Nevada's first first down of the game, a 16–yard pass.
Nevada's 47–yard punt was returned 15 yards and New Mexico began with good field position at its own 46–yard line with 6:00 remaining in the quarter.
On the second play of the drive, Nevada's defense got its first big break of the game as New Mexico receiver Roland Bruno fumbled the ball after catching a short pass.
A false start penalty set the New Mexico offense back five yards, but two plays later, Porterie connected on 39–yard touchdown to Travis Brown.
Nevada began its final drive of the first quarter from its own 30–yard line desperately needing to score in order to keep the game from getting out of hand.
At midfield, New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie attempted to throw the ball deep but was intercepted by Nevada's Justin Jackson.
A steady Lobo rushing attack picked up yards and first downs on the ground and New Mexico moved the ball downfield with success.
Sullivan, who had played the entire season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left (plant) leg, completed the kick, thus giving the Lobos a 17–0 lead with 5:55 remaining in the first half.
A 20–yard completion to tight end Chris Mark put the Lobos in position to do just that but New Mexico failed to earn a second first down.
The kick allowed Sullivan to tie an NCAA record for consecutive games with multiple field goals and gave New Mexico a 20–0 lead with 2:48 before halftime.
Wolf Pack wide receiver Marko Mitchell caught a 13–yard pass for a first down and the Nevada rushing game picked up another.
Two plays later, however, Nevada running back Brandon Fragger fumbled the ball which was recovered by the New Mexico defense with 46 seconds remaining in the half.
Sullivan's kick was blocked by Kenny Viser of Nevada, denying New Mexico the field goal before the half.
Nevada recovered the blocked kick, returning it to the New Mexico 44–yard line where the Wolf Pack offense took over with over 10 minutes remaining in the quarter.
New Mexico, which chose to try to complete the fourth–and–goal play instead of kicking a field goal, was denied points and turned the ball over to Nevada on downs with 2:30 remaining in the quarter.
A 10–yard holding penalty on the next play pushed the Wolf Pack back towards their goal line, however, and quarterback Colin Kaepernick was unable to pick up another first down.
Despite excellent field position, New Mexico's offense fared no better than Nevada's and was pushed back after gaining just one first down.
With three and a half minutes remaining, New Mexico took over on offense and proceeded to run out the clock and win the bowl game.