SMU has been an afterthought on the national stage over the past 25 years. On Thursday, the Mustangs made their presence felt. The Ponies defeated Nevada 45-10 in a dominating performance from start to finish. The Sheraton Hawaii Bowl win caps the greatest turnaround in the FBS this year as the Mustangs improved from a 1-11 team in 2008 to 8-5 in 2009.

How the game was won: SMU quarterback Kyle Padron threw two deep passes that set up the Mustangs' first two touchdowns and they never looked back. The defense stifled Nevada’s depleted running game and the Wolf Pack were never able to get their offense started.

Turning point: When Nevada announced that Vai Taua was not going to make the trip because of grades, Nevada’s game plan was in serious jeopardy. With fellow 1,000-yard rusher Luke Lippincott already out because of injury, the offensive onus fell to quarterback Colin Kaepernick and he couldn’t do it alone. The pressure of having to carry the offense, especially down two scores early in the first quarter, seemed to weigh on Kaepernick.

Unsung hero of the game: What coach June Jones has done with the Mustangs has been admirable. He told his team at the beginning of the season that if it won six games it would go to a bowl. The Mustangs achieved that goal and more. Jones, who was making his first return to Hawaii since 2007, received chats of “Thank you, June” at the end of the game.

Player of the game: Padron completed 78 percent of his passes (32-of-41), threw for an SMU record 460 yards and two touchdowns to help the Mustangs to their first bowl victory since 1984. Padron, a freshman who was starting just his sixth game, threw a couple long bombs to set up rushing touchdowns. He was named the Hawaii Bowl’s most valuable player.

Record performance: The Western Athletic Conference is now 1-6 in bowl games during the past two seasons. Fresno State lost in double overtime to Wyoming last Saturday. Nevada has lost four consecutive bowl games dating back to 2005.