Joe Tiller has a two-fisted worry entering the Outback Bowl, where he will go for his third straight postseason victory as Purdue's head coach.

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First, Tiller gives five-point underdog Georgia the edge in team speed over his Boilermakers, and he isn't sure Purdue's pass offense can recapture its sharpness for the Jan. 1 game after being off for six weeks.

"I think it takes a little time to get a passing offense back in sync,'' Tiller said. "You lose some of that timing when you have a six-week lag period."

Tiller had the Boilermakers begin mid-December bowl preparations with a series of two-a-days.

One thing he isn't worried about is Purdue's conditioning under assistant coach Jim Lathrop.

"Jim does a great job getting these guys back in as good or maybe even a little better shape than when we finished the season,'' Tiller said.

Whether that will be fast enough to keep up with the Bulldogs is another matter.

"You can't have a winning program in the Southeastern Conference without having a lot of talented players on your roster and, certainly, Georgia is no exception,'' Tiller said. "They have very good football players. It's an extremely talented team.''

Quarterback Quincy Carter is a premium concern for Purdue's defense.

"They're similar to us in that they really have a marquee quarterback,'' Tiller said. "When he has a great day, they have a great day as a team.''

The same is true of the Boilermakers, of course, who in Drew Brees have the fourth-place finisher in the Heisman Trophy voting and an early favorite for next season.

"It always feels great to be included and honored in something like that,'' Brees said. "As a kid, you always dream of winning the Heisman Trophy. It's legendary. When you think of college football, you think of the Heisman Trophy.''

Personnel File

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Brees finished second in the nation in total offense and had his second straight 3,000-yard passing season, something only Mark Herrmann did previously at Purdue. Sure, he had five passes intercepted and returned for touchdowns, but he was still good enough to establish the Boilermakers as 2000 Big Ten title contenders and himself as the Heisman Trophy front-runner.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Junior-college transfer Akin Ayodele gave the Boilermakers a much-needed pass rusher in place of the graduated Roosevelt Colvin. Ayodele finished among the league leaders in quarterback sacks (9.5) and tackles for a loss (18).

COACH: Joe Tiller (25-11 in three seasons, 64-41-1 in nine seasons overall) should be ready to make a run at the conference title next year with Brees coming back. After that, watch out for Tiller to make a move up to a big-time program where it's easier to win on a consistent basis because of better high school recruiting in-state.

STRENGTHS: While Brees leads one of the most wide-open passing offenses in college football, the Boilers are surprising well balanced when they need to be. Of their 456 yards a game of total offense (eighth nationally), 128 of it comes on the ground, and their 4.0 yards per carry is better than Michigan, Michigan State and three other teams in the league.

CONCERNS: Purdue's defense is better than it gets credit, but its one vulnerability is the long pass. The Boilermakers are shaky in the secondary aside from cornerback Adrian Beasley.

MOVE OVER: Freshman linebacker Joe Odom probably will start at outside linebacker against Georgia in place of Jason Loerzel, who injured a knee in the season finale against Indiana.

Odom backed up Willie Fells in the middle most of the season.

"I know most of the important stuff,'' Odom said. "Anything else we're going to learn for the bowl game is going to be new anyway, so I'll have a chance to learn it.

"Middle linebacker is where I like to be, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes. When they first recruited me, I thought I'd be at weakside linebacker anyway. That's where you have a chance to run around and make plays, use your speed a little more. It will be fun.''

Noteworthy

LONG TIME: Brees was Purdue's first Heisman Trophy finalist since Mark Herrmann finished fourth in 1980, and he admits it will be hard to keep his mind off the award going into next season.

"It's hard not to have that as a personal goal,'' he said. "All competitive people want to be the best, and being the best goes hand in hand with the Heisman Trophy. Having been there (to the ceremony) definitely adds fuel to the fire.''

Brees threw for 3,531 yards and 21 touchdowns.

He was runner-up for both the Maxwell Award as the nation's top player and the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback.

LOVE THE BOILERS: The Outback Bowl bypassed two available Big Ten teams with better records to take Purdue.

Penn State (9-3) and Minnesota (8-3) didn't have the same appeal to the game's director, Jim McVay, as the 7-4 Boilermakers.

"We like Purdue,'' McVay said. "No matter who else was available, we wanted Purdue in our game. We are very happy with our selection.''

EARLY START? Purdue is considering an appearance in the Kickoff Classic, with a possible matchup against Virginia Tech.

"It's speculation,'' Tiller said. "We are one of many teams they are considering, and we're not sure we want to do it.''

Purdue might want to consider that most teams that played in an extra game this season had what proved to be a disappointing year, including bowl-less seasons by preseason Top 25 members Arizona, Ohio State and Notre Dame.

INJURY UPDATE: CB Michael Hawthorne (hamstring) and LB Mike Rose (knee) will play against Georgia. LB Jason Loerzel (knee) is out.

A Look Ahead

Here's a glance at who the Boilers will have to replace in the starting lineup next season.

OFFENSE: Three starters lost, including wide receivers Chris Daniels and Randall Lane. Center Jim Niedrach is also a huge loss.

DEFENSE: Four starters lost. Cornerback Michael Hawthorne, safety Adrian Beasley, linebacker Mike Rose and tackle David Nugent.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Punter Danny Rogers is gone, taking with him a 41.6-yard average that ranked fifth in the Big Ten.