HONOLULU -- Lampford Mark ran up some big numbers and took home a nifty trophy in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Saturday.
But two yards the Nevada running couldn't pick up loomed large in a 24-17 loss to No. 21 Southern Mississipi.
The senior running back ran for 183 yards, two shy of his career high, and scored both of the Wolf Pack's touchdowns.
But he was stopped on a momentum-turning fourth-and-1 late in the second quarter that contributed to Southern Miss taking a 17-14 lead into halftime.
Another fourth-down stop after the Golden Eagles took the lead in the fourth quarter effectively ended Nevada's hopes of rallying for a comeback win.
Mark was named Nevada's most valuable player, but finished his career 0-3 in Aloha Stadium, though he didn't give much thought to an island curse.
"It just comes down to the way you play, if you did one extra thing right, it would have been a different game," Mark said. "But as far as Hawaii's stadium, I wouldn't give that excuse."
"We had our opportunities."
Mark closed his Nevada career with a streak of six consecutive performances over 100 yards and broke the century mark about 20 minutes into Saturday's game.
With senior wide receiver Rishard Matthews sidelined, the Wolf Pack leaned on Mark while the passing game struggled to produce yards.
Mark scored Nevada's first two touchdowns on runs of 5 and 45 yards in the second quarter and was threatening his career high before halftime.
He ran for 162 yards on 20 carries in the first half, but touched the ball just nine times for 21 yards after the break.
"Lamp can't block for himself," Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "He ran well in the first half. (In the second half Southern Miss) didn't do anything different. They played the gaps well, contained us. From our offensive line standpoint we didn't come off the ball with the authority we had in the first half."
Mark was a sophomore when he moved to top line of the depth chart for the 2009 game when Luke Lippincott and Vai Taua were sidelined by injury and an academic issue.
He ran for 90 yards on 15 carries in that 2009 game against SMU, but his production was muted in a 45-10 loss in which Nevada went into halftime trailing 31-0.
Mark came out strong in his second Hawaii Bowl start and gave the Wolf Pack the lead with his two scores.
But the second-quarter stop on fourth-and-1 from the Nevada 45 coupled with a turnover on special teams fueled a 10-point swing at the end of the half.
With Nevada trying to drive for a tying score, Mark was stuffed up the middle again on fourth down with 3:56 left and Southern Miss ran out the clock.
"I felt like we rallied and had an opportunity in the fourth quarter but just fell short," Mark said.
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