JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — His coach said he must have had an angel on his shoulder during his Gator Bowl performance against Michigan.

In the 52-14 victory, Mississippi State quarterback Chris Relf completed 18-of-23 passes for 281 yards and scored four touchdowns. And he took home the game’s MVP trophy playing with the No. 36 jersey in honor of his late-teammate Nick Bell, who passed away after battling cancer earlier this season.

But it was that same coach, Dan Mullen, who designed a gameplan ready to pick apart the Wolverines’ inexperienced secondary — he pinpointed the holes in Michigan’s zone.

“I have to give my props to the (Mississippi State) coach because it seemed every single time we were on defense he picked our weak spot — every time,” senior cornerback James Rogers said after the game. “It’s very frustrating. We did everything that we could and they just kept hitting that weak spot. Run game too, the main kind of problems all year. We’re there some of the time, we just have to make the tackles.”

Relf isn’t known for his passing skills, but he passed for his second highest season total against Michigan. He dinked and dunked with screen passes, but also had several throws down the field. And Mississippi State’s execution in the run game allowed their bruising backs to rush for over 200 yards and convert third and fourth-down runs for first downs nine times.

Early on, it looked as though Michigan would be able to keep up with the Bulldogs.

In the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson completed all his passes and rushed for 51 yards — and Michigan held a 14-10 lead. But the Mississippi State defense adjusted and its offense kept scoring.

Momentum was hard to come by, and the Wolverines turned the ball over (an interception, on downs and a fumble) on their first three possessions to start the second quarter.

“We were all frustrated we couldn’t get in a rhythm, but we can’t let that affect us,” junior wide receiver Darryl Stonum said. “Kinda panicked a little bit. You look up and see they’re scoring, and you feel like you have to score to match it. And then you don’t score and they score. You finally start getting behind and it’s frustrating.”

Michigan quarterback coach Rod Smith said the Wolverines didn’t run Robinson as much as they usually do because they wanted to keep him healthy for the entire game. The stingy Bulldog defense held him to eight yards rushing over the final three quarters and the rest of the Wolverine runners to 26 yards. Michigan’s total of 88 yards was telling for a team that averaged 250 rushing yards per game and relies on the dangerous threat of a run-pass option.

Offensive options are limited to a large degree when the opponent scores points on its first five possessions of the game and four of its first five to start the second half.

“When you dig yourself that big of a hole, it’s tough,” Smith said. “Because then you become, I don’t want to say one-dimensional, but the defense can pin their ears a little bit more and it makes it tough on you.”

GO ODOMS GO: It was a simple go-route, with junior wide receiver Martavious Odoms lined up on the outside to sophomore quarterback Denard Robinson’s left. Odoms, who suffered a broken foot three months ago to the day, sprinted past Mississippi State corner back Corey Broomfield — the pass was to his back shoulder and he turned and leaped to catch Robinson’s 27-yard pass for a touchdown. The score put Michigan ahead, 14-10.

Odoms showed no signs of being limited when he was out there.

And he was a factor in the return game too. Odoms finished the game with seven kickoff returns and an average gain of 23 yards per return — including a 41-yard return in the third quarter.

“We were doing pretty good,” Odoms said of the return game. “It’s the last day, everyone was fresh … so it gave you extra burst (in the return game).”

Though his career started promising, with Odoms leading the team in catches and receiving yards as a true freshman in 2008, it has since been marred by injuries.