Of course, he would rather be in Champaign on Saturday. Coaching his own team. Trying to repeat the 2010 thriller.

Instead, Rich Rodriguez will be 687 miles away. In Hattiesburg, Miss. Calling the Southern Miss-Central Florida game for CBS Sports.

"It's still all my guys," Rodriguez said. "You're sitting there rooting for them. Also, when I watch them, there's a natural frustration because you're thinking, 'Geez, these are the guys that we recruited and wanted to follow through their careers.' "

Rodriguez isn't surprised to see the Wolverines 7-2 and nationally ranked. It's where he thought the team would be had he stayed in charge.

"I knew after my first spring there it was going to take us a while to get to where we wanted," Rodriguez said. "I felt, even with all the drama and the stuff that happened, we were getting there. Our best years were going to be Year 4 and Year 5. Most of the team was coming back. They were going to be a year older, a year stronger, another year in the system."

During three mostly down years at Michigan, Rodriguez had a highlight. And it came against Ron Zook's Illini.

Needing a win to become bowl eligible, the Wolverines stopped Nathan Scheelhaase on a two-point conversion in triple overtime to preserve a 67-65 win. It was the highest-scoring game in Big Ten history and one that won't leave Rodriguez's head for a long time.

"It was like, 'The first one to 67 is a winner,' " he said.

"It was a crazy game. It started off wild. I'm glad we came out on top of it. But if you have a bunch of those games, it will take you a week to recover for sure."

Rodriguez had other triple-overtime games, but those ended in the 40s.

"It was critical for us," Rodriguez said. "It wouldn't have been nearly as exciting if we didn't wind up winning it."

The Illinois players will tell you it's the low point of their careers. Scheelhaase walked off the field hanging his head.

"Those are games that when you win, you want to make sure your guys put it aside," Rodriguez said. "I can't imagine when you're on the losing end how tough it is to recover. You relive so many plays that would have been the difference in the ballgame. In a game like that there are a lot of single moments that you think about, 'If we'd have done this the one time, we'd have won the game.' "

The hangover from the game cost Illinois, which lost the next week at home to Minnesota.

"As a coach, when you lose a tough one or a heartbreaker, you always say, 'Don't let us lose twice because of this,' " Rodriguez said. "You try to move on. But sometimes with young athletes that's a chore to make sure you move on. I'm not sure what Coach Zook and his staff did that week, but I'm sure they had a hard time getting them focused for the next one."

The win ended a three-game Michigan losing streak after a 5-0 start. But it didn't end the criticism of Rodriguez's program. His Wolverines won the next week against Purdue to improve to 7-3. But a three-game losing streak to end the season, including a 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, was the final straw. After three years with Rodriguez, Michigan was moving on.

His firing came Jan. 5. Too late to land another head coaching job. So, Rodriguez did what all quotable former coaches do: move to the broadcast booth.

He is enjoying his time working games and doing studio shows for CBS Sports. But he wants back on the field. The sooner the better.

"I've learned the media side better, which is always a good thing," Rodriguez said. "I've been able to interact with coaches and watch film."

Looking good

Scheelhaase threw for more than 200 yards against the Wolverines and ran for another 100. Rodriguez was impressed.

"I thought he was a talented guy," Scheelhaase said. "I thought he was a phenomenal player and a great competitor."

Rodriguez will root for the other quarterback in Saturday's game. He brought Denard Robinson to Michigan and helped him gain national notoriety as a dual-threat quarterback.

Robinson is in a different offense at Michigan. But Rodriguez sees the same talent.

"He's still one of the most exciting players in the country," Rodriguez said.

Because his games are often at the same time as Michigan's, Rodriguez doesn't get to see as much of the Wolverines as he'd like. He watched most of the Michigan-Iowa game Saturday and has seen pieces of others.

He'll see at least the first half of Illinois-Michigan.

"I think it's going to be a great game," Rodriguez said. "Illinois is playing really well defensively. Michigan, defensively, they've got all the kids back and they're healthier.

"I don't think it will be 67-65. That was kind of a freaky thing. But I think it will be a good one."

Rodriguez has some contact with his former players. Mindful of not being a distraction, he has limited it.

He maintains a home in Michigan and can't help but see them at times. Rodriguez has talked to Robinson a couple of times.

"They've got some messages back to me, and I've gotten a few texts," Rodriguez said. "I'm happy for their success. At the same time, I get frustrated."

Waiting game

Sure, the time at CBS Sports has been fun. No fans venting their anger toward him. No mean newspaper columns.

But the broadcast booth is a temporary stop for Rodriguez.

"I'm hungry to coach," Rodriguez said. "Hopefully, I'll get somewhere where I can go and finish the job."

He figures the opportunity will come. Or several opportunities.

"You don't want to wish bad on anybody," Rodriguez said. "At the same time, there's always going to be a handful, a dozen, 15 openings around December. It's early in the process, so we'll see what happens. I hope the right situation comes up.

"I'd like to think I've got another 12, 15 years left. There are a lot of factors involved in it. I'm probably hungrier now than I've been in a long, long time."

Arizona has an opening. So does Mississippi. And North Carolina. And New Mexico. And Tulane.

The biggest opening is at Penn State. With Joe Paterno out, one of the nation's premier programs needs a coach. But the luster has been wiped clean by a horrific sex scandal.

"There's a lot of emotions when you talk about that situation," Rodriguez said. "There's certainly sadness. There's disbelief. And there's also anger. If what is alleged is true about (Jerry) Sandusky, can you believe that he was even around your community? That's what really makes you angry."

Even before the scandal, Rodriguez anticipated a change in State College.

"This is not the way (Paterno) or anybody would want him to go out," Rodriguez said. "At the same time, this is a situation that is a lot more than football. Football is the sidebar. It's not the main topic at all."

Moving forward won't be easy for Penn State. There will be a new president, athletic director and coach.

"But it's also a special place," Rodriguez said. "After they clean their house and take care of their business, which is the first thing they've got to do, the football part of it will take care of itself later."

Bob Asmussen covers college football for The News-Gazette. You can reach him at asmussen@news-gazette.com.