The Purdue Boilermakers play in the Big Ten, one of the tougher conferences in the nation year in and year out, but they’ve more than held their own in recent years. The team made a Rose Bowl appearance under QB Drew Brees, now a QB with the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, and they’ve ridden that momentum of that through the past few seasons. The team finished 9-4 last year, a good year in most programs, but a down year at Purdue. Coach Joe Tiller has more job security than most college coaches because he knows as well as the University officials that this team will bounce back and perform in 2004. When Tiller took over as coach, the Boilermakers were an offensive minded squad, and over the years, the approach changed to focus more on the defensive side of the ball. 2004 will likely be different with offense being the center of attention once again. The Boilermakers return many starters on offense and I rank them #15 in my pre-season poll.

Kyle Orton is the QB of the team and is the only returning QB in the top half of the Big Ten. Orton has arm strength and accuracy that are above average and should post good numbers in 2004. Orton threw for almost 3,000 yards and 15 touchdowns last season in a run-first offense and could easily earn all-Big Ten honors this season. RB Jerod Void is a speed back that has breakaway speed after getting through the hole. Void finished last year with 952 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Boilermakers also return three solid receivers in Taylor Stubblefield, Ray Williams and Kyle Ingraham. Defensive tackle Brent Grover will have to lead a depleted defensive line for the first part of the season. He finished last year with five sacks while cornerback Antwuan Rogers led the secondary. Rogers is capable of shutting down the opposition’s best receiver and has 21 passes defensed in his first two seasons and finished with 61 tackles last season.

The Boilermakers started last season well before traveling to Michigan and being destroyed 31-3. This season, the game is at Ross-Ade Stadium on October 23 and could help decide which Big Ten team will head to the BCS bowl. Purdue is one of the few teams in the league to contend each and every year (along with Michigan and Ohio State, two of the top teams in the nation) but they still don’t receive a lot of attention in the media. The Boilermakers will have home-field advantage on Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio State this season, and their only tough road game should be Iowa on November 6. Other big games on the schedule for Purdue are a road contest at Notre Dame on October 2 followed by a trip to Happy Valley to take on Joe Paterno and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Purdue will avoid Minnesota and Michigan State this season, another reason they could finish well in the Big Ten conference.

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