Denard Robinson stared morosely at the microphone as he waited to start fielding questions.  Every now and again a sheepish smile would touch his lips as he reflected on the worst preformance ever by Michigan in a bowl game.  His coach, Rich Rodriguez, sat next to him, not speaking, with his

head buried in his hands.  The 52-14 beat down they had just suffered at the hands of Mississippi State did not only besmirch the reputation of Michigan football but had also sealed the fate of Coach Rodriguez.

Robinson and Rodriguez had watched helplessly from the sidelines as The Bulldogs scored 38 straight points against the Michigan defense.  “From the second quarter on, we did not execute.” said Rodriguez,”It sounds simplistic, but it’s very disappointing because the guys have a great attitude.  But they made the plays and we didn’t.  They tackled better than us, they caught better than us, they ran better than us, and that’s unfortunate.”  Michigan allowed Mississippi State running back Vick Ballard to find the end zone three times and quarterback Chris Relf to make the Wolverines look like a Pee-Wee squad.

Denard Robinson struggled to find his groove after throwing two touchdown passes, one to Roy Roundtree and one to Martavious Odoms in the first quarter.  The Mississippi State defense started to key on Robinson more and more as he was progressively taken out of the game.  “We just slowed down.” said Robinson, “The offense kinda slowed down and we didn’t have our tempo going.  That’s what happened

basically.”  Robinson was held to just 59 yards on the ground throughout the whole game.  Chris White and Pernell McPhee led the defensive charge for Mississippi State in the second half after changing the game plan to neutralize the explosive Michigan offense.  “They did a few different things,” said Michigan receiver Darryl Stonum, “but it wasn’t nothing that we shouldn’t have adjusted to.  Its all on us.  We as players didn’t execute as well as we should’ve.”

As it has been all season, the kicking game was atrocious as place kicker Brandon Gibbons missed a 37 yard field goal that would’ve broken the Wolverine’s scoring drought in the third quarter.  “We had a chance to make some momentum offensively,” said Rodriguez, “When you can’t kick field goals, it hampers you a little bit.”  Michigan kickers finished 4 for 15 on the year including multiple misses from inside the 35 yard line by both Brandon Gibbons and back up Scott Broekhuizen.

Michigan will have an even greater upcoming task than clearing up the mess they left at the Gator Bowl.  Reports Tuesday afternoon indicate that Head Coach Rich Rodriguez has been fired.  Rodriguez met with Michigan AD Dave Brandon Wednesday to learn that he was officially out of work.  The decision was not unexpected but disappointing to Coach Rodriguez and the players, who remained optimistic throughout all the scrutiny of Rodriguez’s job security.  Wide receiver Junior Hemingway stated his confidence that Rodriguez would return.  Rodriguez himself expressed that he thought he would be back next season.

The firing of Rich Rodriguez, while warranted, leaves Michigan in a very tough spot.  For one, there are a premium of good college coaches on the market and even fewer that run the spread offense.  Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh quashed rumors that he would return to his Alma mater to coach and will most

likely set his sights on the NFL.  Other rumored candidates are former assistant coach at Michigan Brady Hoke and Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald.

Another predicament that the Rodriguez firing has implemented upon Michigan is the possibility of losing players.  It already looks as if Denard Robinson will leave Michigan to follow Coach Rodriguez.  When asked what he would do if Rodriguez were fired, Robinson replied “That’s my coach.  That’s who recruited me, so that’s it.”  Michigan will also lose top recruited running back Demetrius Hart in the wake of the Rodriguez firing, who now has his sights set on playing for Nick Saban and Alabama.

Michigan’s painful loss at the Gator Bowl will not be the last in upcoming seasons.  It seems rebuilding the crumbling relic of Wolverine football is at hand once more along with more suffering for Michigan fans.  The Rich Rodriguez brief era has been ushered out with disdain from fans and alumni alike and a new segment in Michigan’s storied history will be hesitantly brought in.