Nevada’s first year in the Mountain West Conference is slated to include yet another trip to Hawaii.
The Wolf Pack could hardly be blamed if they appealed for a change to the schedule.
For the fourth straight year, Nevada traveled for a stay in the islands, and for the fourth time the Pack returned to Reno without a win.
Nevada’s frustration continued Saturday in a 24-17 loss to No. 22 Southern Mississippi in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl as the pistol offense misfired for most of the second half before a crowd of 19,411 at Aloha Stadium.
Regarding Nevada’s long streak of bad luck on the island, Wolf Pack running back Lampford Mark acknowledged "we don’t seem to play well on it.
"But we had our opportunities."
In 2008 and 2010, Nevada fell short in dramatic Western Athletic Conference losses to Hawaii, with both games decided in the final minutes.
In 2009, Southern Methodist ravaged the Wolf Pack secondary in a 45-10 win.
This time, the Wolf Pack defense held firm for most of the afternoon against a potent Southern Miss offense led by quarterback Austin Davis.
But the Nevada offense couldn’t generate much after Mark rushed for 162 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
Mark, who ran for 105 yards and a touchdown in Nevada’s 42-28 win over UH in November in Reno, extended his streak of triple-digit performances to six games with about 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
He was held to 21 yards in the second half and was stopped on fourth and 1 at midfield as Nevada was trying to drive for a tying score late in the fourth quarter.
"Our offensive front just didn’t get it done at all, really disappointed in that aspect of it," Nevada head coach Chris Ault said. "We got stopped on two fourth and 1s, which we’d been pretty good at. One was a missed block in the first half, and the second play (Southern Miss) just did a nice job playing it."
The stop in the second quarter at the Wolf Pack’s 45 shifted the momentum of the game after Mark’s second touchdown gave Nevada a 14-7 lead.
Southern Miss followed with a field goal, then converted a fumble on the ensuing kickoff into a go-ahead touchdown with 12 seconds left before halftime.
Nevada came back to tie with a third-quarter field goal, but couldn’t muster and answer, then Davis capped a Southern Miss scoring drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 5:48 left.
"We just worked so hard, weeks and weeks of preparation and it just doesn’t feel right when you don’t come away with the victory," Mark said.
