Did not see that one coming...

Every time I watch a sporting event and something bad happens to my team, I always say to myself, "I'm flying through the air, this is not good."

It's the line from Talledega Nights when Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell) gets into the horrific crash. It's also a line I said to myself roughly 150,000 times last night from the hours of 8 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

If there's any consolation, it's that the game wasn't as brutally horrifying as the Buffalo one. The Cards got beat by a much better Tulsa team tonight, pure and simple.

I always hate to say my brother was right, but he was on the money about this game.

We had absolutely nothing to play for and he predicted we'd play like it. I disagreed with him — maintaining that we'd like to be ranked in the preseason top 25 next year — but he was right. We played like we had zero interest in being on the field. Maybe we underestimated how much Brady Hoke meant to this team.

That was a tough one to swallow. That Ball State football team we saw on the field tonight against Tulsa looked nothing like the one we saw all season. It looks like we discovered some truths about our squad tonight. Here they are.

1. The MAC is a terrible conference.

0-5 in bowl games, including clunkers by us and Central Michigan. Ball State had not seen a team with that kind of speed and precision on offense. They had speed everywhere and we did not. How bad was the MAC? Maybe we are a bunch of Sun Belt Conference rejects. Sounds brutal to say, but we did not represent at all tonight.

2. We missed Brady Hoke.

I think it's clear who was calling the defense this year. There was absolutely no fire on the defensive side of the ball, but then again, they were on the field an awful lot. Five three-and-outs by the Cardinals in the second half. Brady would've had that defense much more revved up (and the O, t00).

3. Nate Davis will be back next year.

I guess we can take some solace in that. What the heck happened to him the past two games? Eight turnovers and just an abysmal night passing the ball. He was phenomenal in the first 12 games of the year, and followed that up with two huge clunkers. You could make the argument that Nate has had his worst games in the three biggest games of his career: last year against Rutgers, and this year's game with Buffalo and Tulsa.

I apologize to Tulsa fans for insinuating yesterday that Nate was way better than David Johnson. What an offense Tulsa runs.

4. Our offense spent the night relaxing in the Gulf.

As I sat at Fox and Hound with the Ball State fans that hadn't already bailed in the fourth quarter, we talked about how it was inexcusable that MiQuale Lewis wasn't involved in the game. Where was the dominating offensive line and the sick running of Lewis? Tarrion Adams had a HUGE game, rushing for 207 yards and three touchdowns.

Tulsa outgained us 632-223. Yes, re-read those numbers again. Ridiculous. Included in that was 439 rushing yards from the Golden Hurricane. Come on. Davis was 9-of-29 passing.

I know a lot has to do with Brady leaving and what not, but I was surprised our team couldn't get past that. We looked disinterested in both the Buffalo and Tulsa games after playing like gangbusters in the first 12.

I think this and Nate is what befuddles me the most. Tulsa's (and Buffalo's) defenses were lightly-regarded going into those games, and they both lit us up. I don't get it.

5. Mark Smith won't be our defensive coordinator next year.

I consider that a good thing. I can't make any sort of argument that would favor him returning next year. Speaking of our assistants, rumor has it all but three of our coaches are heading to San Diego State University as well. We made outgoing Tulsa offensive coordinator Gus Mahlzahn look like a freakin' genius.

6. We made every single commentator who dissed us all year look really good.

Include in that the likes of Kirk Herbstreit, Craig James and Chris Fowler, who waited as long as possible to rank us in the top 25. Maybe they were onto something. Look at the teams we're ranked ahead and where do we really fall? 40th best team? 50th? Hard to imagine that two weeks ago we were No. 12 in the Bowl Championship Series. Unbelievable.

7. Tulsa set a record tonight for two things: uncalled holding penalties and third-down conversions.

David Johnson owned third down. He made it his bitch. It seemed like every time I looked up, there he was converting a third-down conversion, either with his legs or with a perfect throw. We've all come to expect things like that from Nate, but that was nowhere to be seen tonight.

Good golly, Tulsa's offensive line holds....A LOT. Every time we were about to get to Johnson, a Tulsa offensive lineman would grab cloth out-of-position and let Johnson escape. Look, I know holding penalties occur on every play, but there were a lot that were excessive and should've been flagged.

I'll be back tomorrow with a more positive, glowing review of the season at hand as we try to wipe away the stink of the last two games.