Michigan eliminated from bowl contention

Nov 1, 2008 - 10:31 PM WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- Rich Rodriguez's first season at Michigan will be a historic one. But not in a good way.

With Saturday's 48-42 loss to Purdue, the Wolverines ensured themselves of not going to a bowl game for the first time since 1974.

The Boilermakers used a little trickery to break a tie and pull out the victory when Greg Orton hauled in a reception from Justin Siller. Orton lateraled the ball to Desmond Tardy, who raced 26 more yards for the game-winning score with 25 seconds remaining.

The loss guaranteed Michigan's first losing season since 1967.

The Wolverines (2-7, 1-4 Big Ten) matched their all-time high in losses during the 129-year history of their football program. This came after a 2007 campaign in which they overcame an 0-2 start to finish 9-4, including a 41-35 victory over Florida in the Citrus Bowl.

"We've got to keep fighting and show up for work on Tuesday," said Rodriguez, who replaced the embattled Lloyd Carr as Michigan's head coach this past offseason. "It's obviously disappointing for our seniors, but they can still help build a program for the future."

The Wolverines' consecutive bowl streak could have been even longer were it not for a Big Ten rule that was in place from 1946 to 1974, stipulating that only the conference champion could participate in a bowl.

The Wolverines went 30-2-1 from 1972-1974 under Bo Schembechler, but did not play in a bowl game in any of the three seasons.

The disappointing season also snapped personal streaks for Rodriguez, who coached West Virginia to postseason appearances in each of the last six seasons of his seven-year tenure in Morgantown.

Rodriguez was brought to Michigan to great fanfare in December, replacing Carr, who retired after 13 seasons in Ann Arbor.

Rodriguez overhauled the team's staff and began installation of his spread offense, but the early returns have been anything but positive.

Aside from an upset victory over then-No. 9 Wisconsin, Michigan's season has been one embarrassment after another, including a home loss to Toledo in October - the school's first ever to a Mid-American Conference opponent.

"We knew there were going to be growing pains on offense. We knew there would be some on defense," Rodriguez said. "I didn't anticipate maybe as many on defense as we're having. But nonetheless, you're going to have that. And it's not easy, but it's nothing we're going to give up on."

With the Wolverines poised to post their worst season since a 1-7 showing in 1936, some Michigan fans have called for Rodriguez's ouster before his first year at the helm has even come to an end. Michigan has the lowest-scoring offense in the Big Ten and a defense that is yielding more than 31 points per contest.

The misery continued Saturday despite one of the Wolverines' best offensive showings of the season. Their 42 points were by far a season-high, and they turned the ball over just once.

But all that was overshadowed by the fact that Michigan gave up 522 yards to the Boilermakers to drop its fifth game in a row since the upset over the Badgers.

However, Rodriguez has rebuilt programs in quick fashion before. He took over at West Virginia after 2001 and followed up a 7-5 season in 2000 with a 3-8 performance. But just one year later, the Mountaineers won nine games, finished second in the Big East and played in the Continental Tire Bowl.