Originally Published: July 28, 2004

Team preview: Purdue

Blue Ribbon Illustrated previews the 2004-05 college football season, exclusively on Insider.

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Editor's Note: Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 117 Division I-A teams. To subscribe to Insider, click here. To order a copy of the 384-page book, visit www.blueribbonyearbook.com.

COACH AND PROGRAM

When Joe Tiller was hired as Purdue's head coach following the 1996 season, the football program was in a funk of epic proportions. The school hadn't had a true winning season or a trip to a bowl game since Tiller was an assistant on Leon Burtnett's staff back in 1984, when the Boilermakers went 7-5 overall and played in the Peach Bowl.

A national ranking? Well, it was a pipe dream. The school hadn't been ranked since the final poll of the 1980 season, back in the days of the legendary Mark Herrmann.

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