Wolverines' streak of 33 bowls bids in jeopardy

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Motor City Bowl officials were at the Big House to scout the Wolverines.

The lower-tier bowl would love to fill Ford Field with maize-and-blue clad fans, many of whom live a short drive away. But even the most optimistic of those fans can't be sure the Wolverines can win four more games to be eligible for the postseason.

Rich Rodriguez's debut season in Ann Arbor started shaky with a loss to Utah, looked worse after blowout losses at Notre Dame and to Illinois before sinking to new lows on Saturday because of a 13-10 loss to little-regarded Toledo (2-4).

Michigan (2-4) has its worst six-game record since 1967 -- two seasons before Bo Schembechler took over -- and its streak of playing in 33 consecutive bowls is looking as if it's due to end.

"We can't go anywhere but up -- obviously," cornerback Morgan Trent said.

Well, the Wolverines could continue to tumble. Michigan plays at No. 3 Penn State on Saturday and hosts No. 20 Michigan State next, hoping to avoid a fourth loss this season at home.

"People said we didn't have a shot against Wisconsin, so you can't give up on us," said linebacker Obi Ezeh, referring to a 19-point comeback victory against the Badgers. "We're going to start figuring out some things, we've just got to hang tough.

"We know some people are going to say some things about us, but we've just go to handle that and stay together."

Michigan was likely going to struggle this season even if Lloyd Carr hadn't retired because it lost Jake Long, Chad Henne, Mike Hart and others to the NFL.

But no one predicted college football's winningest team would slump so much that it would lose to a Mid-American Conference team -- and not even a particularly good one -- for the first time.

Rodriguez acknowledged being embarrassed, but he also sounded confident about how his players and coaching staff would respond.

"I've been through this before, but that's in the past," said Rodriguez, who turned West Virginia's program around. "Players aren't going to lay down. Coaches aren't going to lay down.

"We'll get right back to work."