| | |
 |
|
| 08-16-2002 | Previous edition: 08-02-2002 |
        
     |
Printer-friendly version Coach Tiller looks to get back to top of Big Ten
Assistant Sports Editor Purdue is one of only 13 football programs in the nation that has gone to a bowl game in each of the last five years. Head coach Joe Tiller has done one better with six postseason appearances in the last six years — in 1996, he took Wyoming to the Western Athletic Conference Championship — and has participated in seven postseasons in the 11 years he has been a head coach. This season, getting to a bowl game is almost a certainty — the Big Ten added two more bowl alliances in Detroit and Nashville, bringing the total to seven. Just getting to a bowl game isn't the goal for Tiller, however. The man who came to Purdue prophesizing of a return to winning ways still yearns for a return to the top of the Big Ten, a place he was two years ago with star quarterback Drew Brees throwing his way into Heisman contention. "Our goals haven't changed from the first day, but it's twofold," Tiller said. "We start off by being competitive and then we ultimately want to win the league championship." The first victory of his head coaching tenure at Purdue was an upset of No. 12 Notre Dame on Sept. 13, 1997, a win that ended 11 years of futility against the Irish. That season, the Boilermakers finished 9-3 (6-2 Big Ten) for their second winning record since 1984 and defeated Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl. For his accomplishments, Tiller was recognized as the national coach of the year by Football News magazine and Kickoff magazine. His second year, he guided the Boilermakers to their second consecutive Alamo Bowl victory, this time over fourth-ranked Kansas State. Purdue finished 9-4 (6-2 Big Ten) and broke school records for points, first downs, passing yards, total yards and touchdowns. In 2000, Purdue won a share of the Big Ten title and went to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1967. Tiller cites these three events as milestones in his career. "Certainly, the first was beating Notre Dame and beating them with a team that was an underdog," he said. "The second was that we went to back-to-back bowls. The second year was a little more important because our freshmen stepped up and beat the No. 4 team in the country for that one. The third was going to the Rose Bowl." Last year's 6-6 (4-4 Big Ten) team barely managed a trip to the Sun Bowl and finished fourth in the conference, while staying unranked in the top 25 polls much of the season. It was also only the second time in Tiller's career that he has started a freshman at quarterback — Kyle Orton started the last three games of the season. The first was Washington State's Drew Bledsoe, who now starts for the Buffalo Bills of the NFL. This season, Boilermakers are ranked No. 22 in the Sporting News preseason poll, which is the highest Purdue is ranked this preseason. A composite poll done by CollegeSports.com puts Tiller's squad at No. 41. The Boilermakers are picked to finish anywhere from eighth to fourth in the Big Ten. Tiller believes if nothing else, the team has improved. "This group is closer to the group we had two years ago," he said. "It may even be the best group we've ever had at this point in the year." Tiller returns 17 starters from offense and defense this year, giving him an edge on experience. And although Orton hasn't won a game yet as a starter, Tiller has anointed him as the unquestioned starting quarterback. "We have certainly a bigger arm at quarterback than we did last year," he said. "I'm more happy with our situation now than I was 12 months ago." And that's a good thing, because Tiller will lean heavily on his young quarterback to throw the Boilermakers to success. "It's no secret what our game plan is," he said at Big Ten media day in Chicago. "Throw early, throw often." Printer-friendly version |
Front Page | Campus | City | Features | Opinions | Sports | Classifieds Advertising | Archive | Links | About us | Letter Submission Form To report any errors with or to give ideas on how we can improve the online edition of The Exponent contact Online Production |
