Hance Finds His Way Back Home

Purdue backup quarterback Brandon Hance had personal motivation in hoping the Boilermakers would make it to the Rose Bowl.

“I was thinking this was going to be my first Christmas away from home,” said Hance, a graduate of Woodland Hills Taft High. “All along, during the season, I kept thinking, ‘One step closer to home.’ It’s double the pleasure, coming home and being in this game.”

Hance, a freshman, and senior wide receiver Keith Dawson of Victorville and Chaffey College, are the only Californians on the Boilermaker roster. Hance was so eager to play for Purdue, he took nine classes during the fall semester of his senior year at Taft to graduate early and enroll in college last spring. He took 12 credit hours in the spring semester at West Lafayette, Ind., and won the backup job behind Drew Brees by completing nine of 14 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the spring game.

And after that, he came home for his prom and graduation.

“I was recruited pretty much nationally, but I always wanted to play in the Big Ten,” he said Sunday at the team’s practice at the Coliseum before Monday’s Christmas day break.

“There seemed to be a lot of camaraderie. I actually saw a Purdue game here two years ago [against USC in the Pigskin Classic] and I saw the offense and was really interested. Then I got a call from quarterbacks Coach [Greg] Olson.”

Watching Brees, who finished third in Heisman Trophy voting, has been educational for Hance.

“It’s been a great experience for me, being behind such a tremendous player,” said the 6-foot-1, 194-pound Hance, who completed five of nine passes in two games for 40 yards and one touchdown. “I’ve picked up a lot watching him, like his approach to the game, how he treats his teammates, and his discipline and dedication.”

*

The Boilermakers will resume practice this afternoon at the Coliseum, but the session will be closed, as will all their remaining workouts. Tom Schott, Purdue’s sports information director, said that’s in keeping with Coach Joe Tiller’s policy of conducting one open practice a week and closing the rest. The team will go to Disneyland after practice.

*

ABC football analyst Bob Griese, who led the Boilermakers to a 14-13 Rose Bowl victory over USC in 1967--the Boilermakers’ only previous appearance--recently interviewed Brees for a feature that will air during the Rose Bowl pregame show. Griese saw some similarities between him and Brees, although he acknowledged their teams’ styles are vastly different.

“He’s from kind of a small town [Austin, Texas] and wasn’t highly recruited, and neither was I,” Griese said. “He’s not real big [6-1, 220] and people said he didn’t have a real strong arm, and neither did I. He’s intelligent and has made a lot of good decisions, has good coaches. But these are different eras. They use three and four wide receivers and throw a lot, and we never threw that much.”

Brees said the two had an enjoyable chat.

“We just kind of compared situations and seasons,” Brees said. “He didn’t give me any advice. He just said it was one of the most fun times in his life. . . . What he did at Purdue and what he went on to do, it’s an honor to be compared with him as far as what he’s done on the football field.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

How Times Have Changed

Much has changed for Purdue--and the rest of the world--since the Boilermakers’ last trip to the Rose Bowl in 1967:

*--*

Then Now Purdue enrollment 21,900 37,871 Purdue general public season tickets $25 $180 Average height and weight of Purdue starting offensive line 6-1, 226 6-4, 303 Purdue sweatshirt $2.95 $29 Purdue players on roster 44 101 Round-trip plane ticket from Indianapolis to Pasadena $149 $463 Rose Bowl ticket $7.50 $125 Rose Bowl program $1 $10 Dozen roses $4.50 $45 Disneyland ticket $2.50 $43 Dinner at Lawry’s $9 $28 Loaf of bread 20 cents $1.50 Hershey chocolate bar 5 cents 50 cents Most popular TV show Bonanza E.R.

*--*

Popular Songs

Beach Boys, “Good Vibrations”

Beatles, “Paperback Writer”

Frank Sinatra, “Strangers in the Night”

Christina Aguilera, “What a Girl Wants”

Baha Men, “Who let the Dogs Out?”

‘NSync, “Bye, Bye, Bye”

Source: Purdue University 2001 Rose Bowl media guide