On the night of Sept. 17, the season looked bleak. Actually, the season was over. Book it, Eastern was already disqualified for postseason play.

After its 27-6 home loss to Illinois State, the Panther hopes and dreams looked as dark as the evening sky they saw as they walked off the field. Eastern head coach Bob Spoo called it one of the worst games he’d ever seen in his 19 years in Charleston. And then a funny little thing happened …

Suddenly, the Panthers got good and over in Normal; Illinois State turned out to be really good.

Over the last two weeks, Eastern has gotten victories and now control their own fate to win the Ohio Valley Conference. In the same period, Illinois has conducted a woodshed beating of two highly ranked teams (61-35 at then-No.1 Southern Illinois and then-No.18 Northern Iowa 38-3).

So now Spoo and company can walk into the office feeling good about its only home loss. Feeling good that they obviously didn’t play well in that game and a good (possibly great) football team beat them. I feel confident saying that somehow, with the playoff resume they currently have, the No. 18 Redbirds will find its way into the I-AA playoffs.

Think about it, this team lost arguably the best linebacker and quite frankly, the scariest player in I-AA history in Boomer Grigsby and starting quarterback Yance Vaughn from last year’s roster. Illinois State was coming off a 4-7 campaign in 2004.

However, this proves my point that if your school has a coach with a cool name (ISU head coach Denver Johnson), you’re guaranteed for success. Tark the Shark, Coach K, Bear Bryant; none of these are consequences.

So, if I do the math correctly (and I’d like to think in this case, I would), the Panthers (5-2, 4-0) would not have a so-called bad I-AA loss seeing as how the other defeat is against I-A BYU.

It’s amazing how a month can go by and a group of players can feel so much better about themselves and a devastating loss. We apparently just got word that the Panthers have become suddenly a potential playoff team and are eligible. It’s also amazing how a loss is perceived after a month. Newsflash: Illinois State is good and hey, maybe Eastern is too.