Wolverines blown out in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day

Mississippi State displayed a program and a coach on the rise with an overwhelming performance in the Gator Bowl.
For Michigan, it could have been the final blow for its beleaguered coach.
Chris Relf accounted for four touchdowns, Vick Ballard ran for three scores and coach Dan Mullen’s 21st-ranked Bulldogs routed Rich Rodriguez’s Wolverines 52-14 on Saturday.
The 38-point drubbing was the worst bowl loss in Michigan’s storied history and might have sealed Rodriguez’s future. His three-year tenure has been tainted by consecutive losing seasons, NCAA sanctions and late-season slides.
The Wolverines (7-6) were out of this one early, done in again by a defense that made a middle-of-the-pack Southeastern Conference offense look like a juggernaut. Athletic director Dave Brandon couldn’t have been pleased with Michigan’s performance.
Relf and Ballard posed problems all day. Relf completed 18 of 23 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns, and added 30 yards and a score on the ground. Ballard ran for 76 yards. The Bulldogs (9-4) finished with 485 yards, had five fourth-down conversions and capped a surprising season with a dominant victory.
Denard Robinson, the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year, played every snap for Michigan and was dynamic as usual. He threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 58 yards. But he got little help.
Brandon has not offered any public support for Rodriguez, who fell to 15-22 and 1-11 against ranked teams. Brandon has said he will evaluate Rodriguez after the game. Speculation has been that he will fire Rodriguez and try to hire Stanford coach and former Wolverines quarterback Jim Harbaugh to lead college football’s winningest program.
Rodriguez’s buyout dropped from $4 million to $2.5 million Saturday.