LAS VEGAS — Eathyn Manumaleuna blocked a field goal attempt as time expired to give No. 19 BYU a 17-16 victory over UCLA on Saturday night in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Kai Forbath made field goals of 52 and 50 yards to keep the Bruins in it, and UCLA drove almost the length of the field in the final 2 minutes to line up Forbath for a potential 28-yard winner.
But Manumaleuna got his hand on the kick and the Cougars got their first win over the Bruins since Steve Young was the quarterback.
Max Hall threw for two touchdowns, and the Cougars (11-2) closed the season with their 10th straight win, despite getting shut out in the second half and having their lowest offensive output of the year.
BYU managed just 265 yards against the Bruins (6-7), who were playing for interim coach and defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker. If it was Walker's only game as UCLA's coach, it was a memorable one.
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The Bruins forced two turnovers, pressured Hall all game and nearly pulled off the upset with their fourth-string quarterback.
Walk-on McLeod Bethel-Thompson drove the Bruins from their own 2 in the final 2 minutes, completing a 36-yard pass to Logan Paulsen on a third-and-eight play with 30 seconds left to give UCLA a chance at the winning field goal.
It didn't quite happen.
New Mexico Bowl
● New Mexico 23, Nevada 0: In Albuquerque, Paul Baker ran for 167 yards in his first start, and Donovan Porterie threw for career-high 354 yards and two touchdowns to help New Mexico beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl.
The Lobos (9-4) ended a 46-year skid without a postseason victory and gave 10th-year coach Rocky Long his first bowl win in five tries.
New Mexico's defense also delivered just the second shutout loss for Chris Ault, Nevada's Hall of Fame coach.
The Wolf Pack (6-7) hadn't gone scoreless since losing 10-0 to Weber State on Sept. 27, 1980, a span of 329 games — the longest current streak in college football and the second-longest in history.
It was New Mexico's first bowl victory since beating Western Michigan 28-12 in the 1961 Aviation Bowl at Dayton, Ohio.
The Lobos also notched a nine-win season for just the fourth time in school history.
Baker moved into the starting lineup last week when Rodney Ferguson, New Mexico's leading rusher over the past two seasons, was ruled academically ineligible.
Baker gained his yards on 22 rushing attempts.
Although he didn't score, he broke a 37-yard run, took a flat pass from Porterie for 52 yards and added another 24-yard run on New Mexico's first two second-half possessions.
John Sullivan made field goals from 53, 39 and 37 yards.
Papajohns.com Bowl
● No. 20 Cincinnati 31, Southern Mississippi 21: In Birmingham, Ala., Ben Mauk and Cincinnati spoiled Jeff Bower's farewell.
Mauk passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns, and DeAngelo Smith intercepted three passes to lead the Bearcats over Southern Miss and its outgoing coach.
The victory gave Cincinnati (10-3) its second 10-win season, and first since 1951, while virtually assuring a spot in the final rankings for the first time.
Mauk completed 30 of 52 passes and overcame three interceptions to become only the third Bearcat to have a 3,000-yard passing season.
It was a nice finish for the former Wake Forest starter and for first-year Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, but a difficult one for Southern Miss (7-6) and Bower.
This was the final game for Bower after 17 seasons at his alma mater.
Bower's team could not convert several chances to at least make the ending interesting. Mostly, though, it couldn't stop Kelly's spread offense.
Mauk, who also rushed for 41 yards, threw three touchdown passes during an eight-minute span extending into the second half, when Bower's gamble backfired.
He called a fake punt on fourth-and-one from his own 29, but punter Britt Barefoot was stopped short. Mauk hit Earnest Jackson for a 29-yard TD pass on the next play for a 21-7 lead.
Jeremy Young answered with a 1-yard scoring run for Southern Miss before Mauk struck again with a 10-yarder to Antwuan Giddens, and set up a 22-yard field goal by Jake Rogers in the final seconds of the third quarter to put the Bearcats up 31-14.
Young cut into the lead again with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Chris Johnson, but Southern Miss couldn't recover an onside kick or convert a fourth-and-one play on its next possession.
Brandon Sumrall's interception in the end zone gave the Golden Eagles another chance with 5:59 to play. Smith's final pick ended their slim hopes in the final minutes.
Damion Fletcher provided most of the offense for Southern Miss. He ran 29 times for 155 yards against a defense that came in allowing just 106 yards on the ground.
