2011 Gator Bowl The 2011 Gator Bowl game was a post - season college football bowl game between the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten and Mississippi State Bulldogs of the SEC , and was played on January 1 , 2011 ( 1 : 30 p . m . ET ) , at EverBank Field in Jacksonville , Florida . It was the sixty sixth edition of the bowl game and was broadcast by ESPN2 . It was the first time these two teams have ever met . After the game started fairly close , Mississippi State ultimately pulled away and routed Michigan 52 - 14 . It was the most points ever scored by one team in the Gator Bowl , and the worst loss Michigan has ever suffered in any bowl game in its long history . Rich Rodriguez was fired by Michigan after the game , marking the beginning of the " Brady Hoke Era , " as Hoke would be named Rodriguez ' s replacement as Michigan head coach . Konica Minolta ended its sponsorship after the 2010 Gator Bowl game . On December 14 , 2010 , the Gator Bowl Association announced that Progressive Insurance would become the title sponsor for the 2011 Gator Bowl . Teams . Mississippi State . Mississippi State , like their opponent , returned to a bowl game for the first time since following the 2007 season . The Bulldogs bring the nation ' s 16th ranked rushing offense to the contest . Michigan . Michigan brought its high - powered offense into the Gator Bowl along with its 7 – 5 record . The Wolverines were led by quarterback Denard Robinson . The sophomore helped guide an offense that ranked sixth in the FBS with an average of 500 . 9 yards , and he set the NCAA record for most rushing yards by a quarterback with 1 , 643 . Robinson was named the Big Ten ' s Offensive MVP for his efforts . Michigan returned to a bowl game after not appearing in the postseason in 2008 and 2009 . This was the Wolverines ' third appearance in the Gator Bowl and first since 1991 . They were 1 – 1 in prior Gator Bowls . Game summary . The game began as a seesaw affair between the two teams . Michigan struck first with Denard Robinson throwing a 10 - yard pass to Roy Roundtree for a touchdown on the game ' s first drive . Mississippi State responded with a 4 - yard touchdown pass from Chris Relf to Arceto Clark and a 42 - yard field goal by Derek DePasquale . The field goal was the direct result of a blocked punt by Mississippi State . Michigan responded with a 27 - yard touchdown reception by Martavious Odoms . After the first quarter ended , Michigan lead 14 – 10 , but would not score any more points during the game . Mississippi State blew the game wide open in the second quarter with twenty - one points . Vick Ballard and Chris Relf both had rushing touchdowns , of two yards and one yard respectively , while Ricco Sanders also had a 15 - yard touchdown reception for Mississippi State . By halftime , Mississippi State led 31 – 14 and showed no signs of slowing down . On the opening drive of the third quarter , Michigan ' s defense finally forced its first three and out , but on the subsequent drive , Brendan Gibbons missed a 35 - yard field goal . The Bulldogs finished the game with twenty - one second half points . Fourteen of these came in the third quarter on two rushing touchdowns by Ballard of seven yards and one yard , while the final touchdown that made the score worse than the 1968 Ohio State - Michigan game came via a Relf 31 - yard pass to Michael Carr in the fourth quarter . The game broke several Gator Bowl records , as well as Michigan records . The twenty - four points scored in the first quarter broke the previous Gator Bowl record for most points in the first quarter , which was set in 2005 between West Virginia and Florida State . Denard Robinson finished the season with 4 , 272 yards of total offense , a Michigan single - season record . The game was also Michigan ' s worst loss in Michigan ' s history in a bowl game , with the previous record being a 45 – 17 loss to Tennessee in the 2002 Citrus Bowl . This was also Michigan ' s worst loss since losing 40 - 0 to Minnesota in 1935 .