Story of 1997 Purdue season still resonates 25 years later

No one saw it coming. Not a soul.

That’s what makes the story of the 1997 Purdue football team so deliciously delightful.

Joe Tiller rode into West Lafayette from Wyoming with a way-crazy offense. Critics waged their fingers, swearing his “basketball on grass” offense wouldn’t work in the bitterly cold, black-and-blue Big Ten.

“They were wrong,” said Billy Dicken.

Dicken laughs. Why not? He was the triggerman 25 years ago for Tiller’s magical maiden voyage as Boilermaker coach. It’s a story of redemption, a perfect marriage between a quarterback broken by a rotor cuff injury and fractured sternum and a football program broken by years of ineptitude.

“I can't believe it has been 25 years,” said Dicken, who’s married with a 9-year old daughter, lives in Raleigh, N.C., and works for a software company. “I'm pushing 50 (47). It doesn't seem that long ago. Time flies.”

The fifth-year senior from Bloomington, Ill., with the crooked smile had one last chance to punctuate his career in style after four mostly dreary seasons.

Dicken tells the story of that special 1997 team that changed the course of Purdue football--and Big Ten football--a quarter century ago … and built memories for Boilermaker fans that endure.

Initially, I didn’t know if this was gonna work. I knew out in the WAC, they would spread it around and throw it. So, I was excited to have the possibility to throw the ball more. But I was a little apprehensive if it would actually work in the Big Ten. I bet most people were when they saw the hirer.

I was close with Coach (Jim) Colletto. I was sorry to see him go. I know that there were struggles and there were some things that just didn't go right for Coach Colletto. But the change was probably needed. But I felt bad for Coach Colletto.

You obviously worry about a new coach coming in when you are a senior. Is he going to disregard his seniors? That wasn't a big fear. I was a pretty confident kid, so it wasn't a huge fear, but there was a little bit of reservation on Coach Tiller coming in.

When Coach Tiller came in, it definitely was different. I think he was trying to weed some people out. We had 6 a.m. workouts that we've never had before at Purdue. It's not like we didn't do what we were asked to do before. Still, it was different.

The new staff was trying to find out who wants to play and who wants to just collect a scholarship. So, I think they let several people go. When they let go Chike (Okeafor), one of our best players, we knew that they meant business.

I was terrible, to be honest with you. I couldn't really put my finger on why. I didn't throw the ball very well. (John) Reeves was named the starter coming out of spring. I didn't feel upset that he was the starter because I played terrible.

You had to look at yourself and say, 'Hey, what can you do to get this spot back?' Because, in my mind, it's my spot, because when I was healthy, I was normally the starter. But I had some major injuries. I got hurt twice, but they were both major. But I still felt like that was my spot. So, I worked really hard that summer. There's no way I was going to be left out my senior year.

I came into fall camp ready to go and I played well right off the bat. I got the spot back pretty quickly.

After spring ball, Coach (Larry) Korpitz died from a brain tumor. So, that was weird, going through spring and then having a new offensive coordinator.

I played well right off the bat. Drew (Brees) came in and he showed that he could play, as well. But it was good to get the job back and we were excited for the season.

I was embarrassed. I think we scored on the second or third play and I'm thinking we're gonna blow these guys out. But it just didn't go well.

I didn't play particularly well (13-of-35 for 207 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTS). I don't think anybody really would say that they played well. But I was embarrassed, very embarrassed. (36-22 loss) The best thing about it, I think, was that the coaching staff didn't freak out, at least not in front of us.

The next week, we thought that it would just be kind of a hell week. And, it really wasn't. It was back to the drawing board. Obviously, with Notre Dame coming up, my reps did get cut a little bit, so there was a little bit of pressure there. They gave Drew more reps in practice. So, the heat was on. I was probably on the hot seat.

It was kind of just very businesslike at practice to get ready for Notre Dame. But, yeah, I was embarrassed. And I can't remember all the thoughts that were going through my head, but I know that we have a lot of guys on that team that are competitors and were embarrassed and wanted to get it back going the right way.

I absolutely thought we could beat Notre Dame. I always thought we could beat Notre Dame from the first year when I was redshirted (1993), and we lost, 17-0, but it was 0-0 going into the fourth quarter.

The bubble screen got put on the map in that game. No one really knew what the bubble screen was. I had some freedom to do some audibles. But there was one thing they said I could check to anytime I wanted, and that was the bubble screen. If the defense didn't walk out the linebacker, we were gonna throw the bubble. So, I checked to that a lot of the game. Vinny (Sutherland) used his speed and created a lot of plays out of that.

So, it wasn't shocking to win (28-17). Obviously, it was a thrill. It was an unbelievable game. The defense came up big, too. Adrian (Beasley) had that huge scoop and score for a touchdown.

It was just an unbelievable feeling, especially after the week before. And the one thing I'll never forget is fans not being able to tear down the goalposts. The students and the fans were trying their best to get the goal posts down.

Right after the Notre Dame game, we knew we could be pretty good. Obviously, we had a favorable schedule. Let's not lie about it, with no Ohio State and no Michigan. But, looking ahead after the Notre Dame game, we're like, everybody's gonna be tough. But we can do this, this can work.

You know what was a huge game? Wisconsin.

We beat the pants off of (No. 24) Wisconsin (45-20) at Homecoming. I think it just let everybody know that, hey, Notre Dame wasn't a fluke. We had beaten some other teams (Ball State, Northwestern, Minnesota). But when we beat up on Wisconsin, that was a huge game.

We played Illinois at their place. And I know Illinois wasn't great, but we dominated them (48-3). We were really starting to feel it.

We went to Iowa and lost (35-17) and we were up in first half. They played really well in the second half and beat us. But it was a hard-played game. And we lost to Penn State at home (42-17). That was kind of an up-and-down game. I threw the ball more times than I ever had, I think (33-of-60 passing for 347 yards).

Even in the losses to Penn State and Iowa, I thought we played really hard and they knew they'd played us.

I didn't play particularly well and I got taken out for Drew at the end. I don't blame the coaches for it. It looked like the game was gonna be over (MSU led 21-10 with 2:13 left in the game). So, they gave Drew a shot. And Drew threw a pick on his series.

And then we blocked the field goal. Unbelievable. Leo (Perez) blocked it and Rosie (Colvin) ran it back for a TD. Rosie looked like he was running in mud. Then (John) Reeves made a big play on the onside kick. And then all of a sudden, we go down and score and win (22-21). It was kind of unbelievable. I would really have loved to have been above that stadium to see how many people were running back to watch.

It's always fun to crush Indiana (56-7). Obviously, that's a bitter rival. I still don't like Indiana. It's kind of extra special when we beat them because that's who I blew out my shoulder against when I was a freshman. And it cost me a lot. I had two shoulder surgeries from the one play against Indiana in '94. It doesn't take much to get up for Indiana.

We really played well and they're talking smack to me, telling me Tim Couch is a way better quarterback. And I'm just like, ‘Look at the scoreboard, dude.’ I think our fans kind of ripped up their turf a little bit, which didn't break my heart.

We all kind of thought we got snubbed, not going to the Outback Bowl. We were tied for second in the Big Ten with Ohio State. Michigan's going on to the Rose Bowl (as champion), Ohio State goes to the Citrus Bowl. So, next in line is the Outback Bowl. And they pass on us and take Wisconsin, who we crushed. I felt snubbed.

But the Alamo Bowl, what a great time, what a great city. The Riverwalk was unbelievable. We probably had too good a time during the week but reined it back in more towards the end of the week.

A lot of us thought Oklahoma State was disrespecting us at our team functions. R.W. McQuarters and those guys at team functions, they're talking like: ’Is Purdue in the MAC?’ You feel like, 'All right, I gotcha.' The defense played really well in that game. We made some plays on offense, some big plays (33-20 win). And that was a lot of fun. It capped off an unbelievable year.

There are a ton of true Purdue fans. We had Drew Brees, Kyle Orton, Curtis Painter, but I think everybody remembers that '97 season. I think it helped get Purdue going and, obviously, it didn't hurt having a great quarterback like Drew lead the way afterwards.

Did I think I could be a first-team All-Big Ten quarterback? For sure. I always thought I could if I could play a season. It was awesome, man.

It's great to see the guys every once awhile. Greg Smith, (Brian) Nicely and Leo (Perez), those big linemen were all my best buds. It was great that Coach Tiller kind of leaned on the seniors. We were always on the edge of being a winning team. And things didn't fall the right way. But they did in 1997.

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