Hopes high for offense

By Keith Thomas
Summer Editor

Now that summer has arrived, the countdown for the 2000 football season has begun amid high expectations for this year's Boiler squad.

Entering year four of the Joe Tiller era, a few things about the upcoming football season and the Boiler offensive machine are certain.

First, excitement is in the air. Today is the first day of summer school and this means that over three-fourths of the Purdue football team will be arriving to begin summer weight training and fitness programs. Most of those involved with Purdue football have began to feel the excitement already, including quarterback Drew Brees, who to the delight of all Boiler football fans came back for his senior season.

"This is my last go round and I'm excited," said Brees.

Second, Brees is once again going to be the main attraction. Coming back for his senior year in which he is a frontrunner for the 2000 Heisman Trophy, Boiler fans expect a big season from the team captain. Brees has an opportunity this season to become Purdue's all-time statistical leader in virtually every quarterback category.

Third, Purdue is going to feature a Texas backfield regardless of who is the starting running back for the Boilers.

Brees, a native of Austin, Texas, will be lining up in front of one of three sophomore running backs.

Montrell Lowe, a native of LaPorte, Texas, rushed for 841 yards on 137 carries last season while leading the Boilers in rushing touchdowns with five. Lowe, who at the moment is the slight favorite to be the starter this season, rushed for 153 yards on 25 carries in his first career start against Ohio State last season.

Putting the competitive pressure on Lowe is Steve Ennis. The 6-foot, 213 pound native of Flower Mound, Texas, upped his stock during full-contact drills in spring practice.

The final member of the running back trio is Victoria, Texas, native Sedrick Brown. Brown, who rushed for 130 yards on 45 carries last season, caught four passes for 44 yards in the Outback Bowl against Georgia on Jan. 1.

The trio of Texas-native sophomores may be involved in a competitive situation, but Brees said it is something that, himself included, keeps them close.

"You know, it's kind of funny," Brees said. "They're (Lowe, Brown and Ennis) all from Texas and I'm from Texas. So, we have a lot to talk about and we have a lot to joke around about. You sit around and talk about your high schools and who would beat who."

This is an argument that favors Brees' alma mater — having went 16-0, winning the Texas 5A state championship his senior year.

The competition between the three running backs, despite their friendship, is fierce. This is something that has head coach Joe Tiller observing as a "good problem" to have. However, Tiller said, it would be nice to be able to say who is going to get the bulk of the carries.

"I kind of feel about the tailback position like I do about the quarterback position," said Tiller. "I think that the more opportunities a guy gets, the better he becomes at it. And if you start splitting them, you really delay the improvement probably of both players."

The offensive plan for the upcoming season, which includes the addition of an H-back formation, is to move the ball a little more consistently when inside the 20-yard line.

Although both Tiller and Brees agree that the addition of the H-back may help red zone scoring, the coach says the H-back wasn't put in specifically for that purpose.

"I think it's important to understand that were not going to the H-back in the red zone because of last year," Tiller said. "We're going to it because we now are closer to having the personnel to run it."

With a healthy Tim Stratton getting the reps at tight end, he is primarily the personnel Tiller is referring to.

"Personally, I think that the guy that's positioned to have a really good year would be Tim Stratton," said Tiller. "This is his third year in the offense."

One unanswered question prior to the spring was who, other than Stratton and speedy wideout Vinny Sutherland, was going to catch the ball from the Heisman hopeful.

"Somebody's going to be there, somebody's going to get a great opportunity, and someone will take advantage of the opportunity and that someone will then catch a lot of footballs," Tiller said.

Brees, like his coach, is not worried about having enough of a variety of receivers to catch the ball.

"Going into spring, I wasn’t quite sure, just because some of those guys I just really hadn't seen a lot of," said Brees. "Coming out of spring ball, I felt great about it. I knew we that had six or seven guys that could play.

With four starters returning on the offensive line, his own well being is something that Brees doesn't need to worry about. The Brees bodyguards are seniors Brandon Gorin, Matt Light, Chukky Okobi, Ian Allen and sophomore Gene Mruczkowski.