The Bird's The Word

At the very least, things have calmed down quite a bit in Cardinal Nation since the disastrous MAC Championship game.

It looks like most of the Cardinal have come to grips with everything that's happened since we lost to freakin' Buffalo. Just a brief reminder: Nate Davis fumbled four times and two were returned for touchdowns as we somehow lost to Buffalo in the MAC title game; coach Brady Hoke bolted for San Diego State and former offensive coordinator Stan Parrish is our new head coach.

Nothing groundbreaking there, but here are my few quick thoughts on it all.

1) Buffalo game: I'm not sure I'm fully over the loss yet. It's amazing that one play (not giving MiQuale Lewis the touchdown when he crossed the goal-line) can change the tide of the game like that. That thing sent us on The Downward Sprial (not trademarked by Nine Inch Nails). Let's hope we can use the disappointment of that game as motivation for the Tulsa game Tuesday.

2) Brady Hoke: I still won't get to this day why our administration (and fan base) was against playing Boise State, but I think turning down the invite is what led Hoke to leave. I personally don't believe it was because of the assistants not getting paid (although that was certainly part of it, just not the main reason). When our administration decided to turn the game down, it became clear to Coach Hoke that he didn't think our administration was serious about making our program a national contender. Like last time, someone is going to argue that "Hoke said it was because of the assistants" and say Hoke has no reason to lie, so the Boise thing surely can't be the reason. Well, in case you forgot he told everyone he didn't talk with Auburn, when, low and behold, he did talk with Auburn.

3) Stan Parrish: Welcome, Stan. He was certainly the logical choice to take over Brady's spot — barring that he didn't go to SDSU with Hoke — and now hopefully there will be less turnover. This is still a team that is primed for a BCS run in 2009 if Nate comes back, so the less change there was, the better. He'll get a true test in his first game as head coach.

I had a talk with my brother this afternoon, and he informed me that he didn't think we had anything to play for in this game. I couldn't disagree more. A victory gives us a springboard into the 2009 season, especially in the polls, where we'd be ranked higher in the preseason. We got all the way to No. 12 without any pollsters looking at us in the beginning of the season. Where can we get to next season?

Look, the last three weeks have been rough for us. But...this is what we wanted. This is what it feels like to be a national power, a team everybody wants to beat. Will this feeling last beyond this season? Time will tell. We'd kill be the Utah of the Midwest, and with the great recruiting classes we've had and the one we have coming up next year, the seeds are certainly in place for that to happen.

Even if Coach Parrish doesn't have an office.

We'll talk a little more shop tomorrow and in the coming weeks or so, get down to breaking down the upcoming year's recruiting class, one of the reasons I created this site. I know that I was absent during long stretches, but I won't make any excuses. I'm just lazy. And for the Buffalo week and beyond, I was a mess along with everyone else at BSUFans, who were practically losing their minds. But as I said, this is what it's like to be a national powerhouse and I hope that doesn't change.

See ya Monday.