JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Coach Rich Rodriguez walked briskly down the hallway underneath EverBank Field — the long, lonely path from Michigan’s locker room to the post-game press conference.

His head was down, his gaze focused on the ground a few feet in front of each step he took. Rodriguez was flanked by a security guard, Michigan media relations officials and his sixth-grade son, Rhett.

He knew reporters were waiting at the end of the hallway, armed with questions about a job he has no idea if he’ll have next season.

Nobody knows for sure — well, maybe Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon does — if we all just witnessed the final game of the Rich Rodriguez era at Michigan.

But if we did, well, Saturday’s Gator Bowl 52-14 blowout loss couldn’t have been a better microcosm of Rodriguez's third — and potentially final — season in Ann Arbor.

The game featured a truly dynamic quarterback in sophomore Denard Robinson. In the first quarter, he was perfect. He accumulated 150 yards of total offense. His first two carries were each for 20-plus yards. He completed all seven passes he attempted, including two touchdown strikes. It felt like September, and Michigan fans saw their Heisman hopeful once more.

But, like so much of Rodriguez’s success at Michigan, it didn’t last long. Flashes of offensive brilliance — the spread offense at its finest. Young, heralded quarterbacks who dominate non-conference opponents. Quick-strike scoring that ends up on highlight reels. So 2009 — and 2010.

The second, third and fourth quarters of Saturday’s game featured the porous defense and inconsistent special teams play, both of which have been associated with the Wolverines during the past three seasons.

Mississippi State put up 485 total offensive yards. Quarterback Chris Relf, not known for being a prolific passer, threw for three touchdowns. The Bulldogs converted more than half of their third-down conversions. When they missed, it usually didn't matter — they were a perfect 5-for-5 when they went for it on fourth.

Special teams on Saturday were especially fitting.

Rodriguez had little to no confidence in his kickers, so punter Will Hagerup handled kickoffs. Michigan stopped attempting field goals after Brendan Gibbons missed a 35-yarder early in the second half. That meant the Wolverines had to keep going for it on fourth down, which didn’t work, because as Rodriguez put it, “When you can’t kick field goals, it hampers you a little bit.”

Then, throw in the media circus surrounding the man. Pick a topic: Rodriguez’s job security, whether he’s a “Michigan Man” (whatever that means), his rumored potential replacement, Jim Harbaugh, the NCAA violations or his buyout from West Virginia.

It’s a cloud of scrutiny that constantly hangs over the guy. Even in Jacksonville, where it was 72 degrees and sunny, that dark cloud loomed over Saturday’s game.

At the postgame press conference, when Rodriguez addressed questions about his job performance and the past three years, he slipped into past tense. It wasn’t necessarily defeatist, but it was interesting.

“(My coaching staff and I are) paid to do a job, and we did it as hard and as well as we could with some obstacles, but everybody is going to have obstacles,” Rodriguez said. “That's the one thing that, even though the season certainly didn't shape out the way we wanted it to and there's a lot of things that happened, we fought through it, and the team got closer. This team is closer today than it was a week ago and three weeks ago, and sometimes there's some hard lessons to learn for all of us.”

Rodriguez left the podium and walked his brisk walk back to the locker room. He exited the stadium after all his players. As I watched Rodriguez walk away in maize and blue apparel for potentially the final time, I stood in that hallway for a moment, thinking.

What will those lessons be? And what will we ultimately think of the Rich Rodriguez era?

Saturday’s game could be the start of that discussion. I don’t know if “fitting” is the right word, but it’s strange that reaching this bowl game was the pinnacle of Rodriguez’s time at Michigan.

The outcome was the perfect representation of it, too.

— Auerbach can be reached at naauer@umich.edu.