I must give props to the Iowa State football team. The Cyclones may have lost on the scoreboard to Nebraska, but in the minds and the hearts of all true football fans, they were victorious.

While Nebraska, on the other hand, was not happy with a victory. They wanted a spanking. The lowly Huskers once again stooped to a new level, attempting numerous fourth down conversions late in the game in hopes to achieve an astronomical victory over an opponent that was soundly behind.

I have no problem admitting that Nebraska has the caliber of athletes that very, very few schools can obtain. But why is there a need for an exclamation point?

It is not Iowa State’s fault that Nebraska got its ass kicked by Arizona State, and running the score up against lesser teams will not make one bit of difference as long as Ohio State, Florida and Arizona State remain undefeated.

Enough about the Huskers. They proved every point I have ever made about the kind of people, not just players, that they are.

Time to give the Cyclones the respect that they deserve. Troy Davis may have only ran for 138 yards on the ground, but that was, to me, his most impressive rushing performance of his career.

Davis wrapped up over 100 of what I call “find-a-way” yards. Every time Davis touched the ball he had nothing to work with but heart, and he found a way to move the ball.

Byron Hanspard couldn’t get the yards that Davis wrapped up, and Hanspard gets to run the ball a given four yards before he is even touched.

You also have to take your hats off to the Cyclone defense. Sure, they’ve given up a high number of yards, but they have never given up. Even staring down the eyes of the nation’s fifth best team, the defense displayed to a sold-out house what it means to be a winner.

Hats off to Ed Williams, who battled through a hip injury to literally run a Cornhusker clean over to get into the end zone.

The Cyclone fans also got to see a glimpse of the future in Todd Bandhauer. Bandhauer could have came off the bench and just burnt the clock away and got the hell off the field, but he didn’t. He stood in there and worked his way down the field to end the game on a positive note, a touchdown pass to Ed Williams.

I don’t care what our record is, or will be after next week. ISU head football coach Dan McCarney has installed the winning spirit in players that the freaking clown prince Walden only dreamed of.

There is a reason that Cyclone Stadium has been selling out all year. That reason is because Cyclone fans believe that McCarney and Co. are winners and are never out of any game that they play. That’s a lot more than you can say for the Walden era.

What other program in the country has a losing record and still sells out? Would Nebraska fans make it to the games if the Huskers were losing? Nope! I’ll leave now with a few words to the entire Nebraska football program. What comes around, goes around. And it’ll go around sooner than you think.

We’ll talk later.

Chad Calek is a junior in journalism from Persia. He is the assistant sports editor at the Daily.