2011 Bowl Games: Keys for Southern Mississippi vs. Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl

One day after Southern Miss shocked the world and took down Case Keenum and the Houston Cougars, they received an invitation to take on Nevada in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Southern Miss surprisingly finished the season at an impressive 11-2, while Nevada struggled to a 7-5 record.

However, this could be a very interesting game.

Here are some key matchups to look for in this Christmas Eve special while you're waiting for Santa to climb down your chimney. 

Southern Miss proved their defense is no pushover this past weekend when they held Case Keenum to just two touchdowns in the Conference USA championship game.

In recent years, Nevada has fielded a high-powered offense, but there has been a drop-off this year after the graduation of Colin Kaepernick.

Nevada is scoring 10 fewer points a game this year, but they rely on lighting up the scoreboard completely for their success.

Something will have to give in this matchup. If Nevada struggles to score, it could be a long night for the Wolf Pack.

Austin Davis had an almost flawless performance against Houston this past weekend. The senior quarterback threw for four touchdowns and just one interception in the biggest game of his life.

Nevada's defense is suspect at best, and Davis could have a huge game against the Wolf Pack.

When challenged with a good offense, Nevada has given up a good amount of points, so expect Davis to light up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree in this one.

This should be fitting, considering the game will be played on Christmas Eve.

Chris Ault is one of two active coaches in college football to have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Larry Fedora is rumored to possibly become the new head coach at Kansas or Ole Miss.

Surprisingly enough, this game offers an excellent coaching matchup. Both Ault and Fedora are known as offensive-minded coaches, so it could be a thrilling shootout that goes back and forth.

Kansas and Ole Miss fans should keep a close eye on this game in order to evaluate their possible next head coach.

Look for both teams to be extremely well prepared, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

This matchup won't really be seen on the field, but it will be very interesting to see how it turns out. Tyler Lantrip is a senior quarterback for the Wolf Pack, who was benched in favor of freshman QB Cody Fajardo earlier this season.

Fajardo performed admirably as a freshman, but Lantrip was the starting QB against Idaho this past weekend due to injury.

Lantrip had an excellent game on Senior Day and threw for 340 yards and four touchdowns. After such a convincing performance, it may be hard to bench Lantrip.

Ault is a big fan of Lantrip and may start him, as it will be his last game ever as a football player. It will be interesting to see who starts and if both quarterbacks split snaps in this bowl game.

If the senior running back can get things going against the Southern Miss defense, Nevada's chances of pulling off the upset would raise tremendously.

Mark has had a respectful season thus far but isn't normally a game-changer. He has rushed for 728 yards and eight touchdowns this year but could be the key to Nevada's offense on Dec. 24.

Nevada has traditionally experienced much success on the ground and will need a big game from Lampford Mark in order to come out on top of this Christmas Eve special.