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f r o m e d i t o r b r i a n n e u b e r t nothing to lose of In the grand schemerethings, in the history of Purdue football, the sult of the Heart of Dallas Bowl might be a footnote, but little more. Maybe a little fun fact for us to make mention of one day next time the Boilermakers play a game in Texas; face a team from Oklahoma again; or after the Big Ten absorbs the Big 12 as its western bureau. Hey, it might happen. This game will be played around lunchtime Tuesday. By dinner Thursday, you might not even remember the score, as attention around Boilermaker football will immediately turn toward the ushering in of the Darrell Hazell Era. Purdue���s on the wrong end of the most one-sided spread of this bowl season and most will give it no chance to beat an Oklahoma State team that might be better than its bowl fate would suggest. Of course, the last few times that storyline has played out for Purdue, it���s worked to its advantage. Kansas State didn���t want to be in the ���98 Alamo Bowl and Wash- ington wasn���t exactly overjoyed to be in the 2002 Sun Bowl. The Boilermakers won both those games. But any time potential disinterest on one team���s part is even being discussed, that���s usually reflective of what the other is up against. Yes, Oklahoma State will be expected to win big. They���re scary, man. They can score. Their fiery-orange unis will burn your retinas. And their coach might just be a little bit nuts. But Purdue will take its swings. It���s been fascinating to read about the lightened mood around pre-bowl practices, about how it���s enjoying itself in a situation that would otherwise be all kinds of miserable. This is a trying deal, but one interim coach Patrick Higgins has seemed to handle with the utmost grace and professionalism. If Purdue plays well in this game, let alone wins, that guy deserves a Congressional medal of honor or something. Consider the fact that two months ago, Higgins was just the Boilermakers��� wide receivers coach. It���s entirely plausible that the casual fan had never even heard of him. For the past three games, he���s been interim offensive coordinator, and Purdue���s unbeaten with him in that role, be it coincidence or not. He���s coaching the receivers and the quarterbacks in the absence of the injured Gary Nord. For the past three weeks, Higgins has been the program���s interim coach, the brainy, funny, clever voice of a program straddling coaching staffs right now. Higgins has done Purdue a great service these past couple months and the Boilermakers will want to win for him. One Boilermaker in particular. Since Higgins took over the offense ����� full disclosure: it should be noted that transition took place just as the schedule softened to close the Big Ten season ��� quarterback Robert Marve seemingly found new life as a football player, after finally being given the starting job all to himself, without qualifiers. Had that move been made earlier, former coach Danny Hope might not be former coach Danny Hope, for all we know, though hindsight is what it is. That Marve will tell anyone who���ll listen of his respect for Higgins suggests Purdue���s interim head coach has played a role in the quarterback���s play. In Higgins and Marve, Purdue���s found something. It���s a shame it took until the final few games of Year 6 of the sixth-year senior���s career for it to all happen, but he���ll look back with no regrets, it would seem. There has been no greater transformation at Purdue of both player and person than the one we���ve seen Marve make this year. He���s completely different than he was when he first set foot on this campus like he owned it. He���s been an inspiration. That alone might be reason to give the Boilermakers a fighting chance in Dallas against an Oklahoma State team that wins and loses by basketball-ish scores, usually of the 50-something-to40-something variety. Purdue has nothing to lose on New Year���s Day. This is Marve���s last college game, maybe his last game, period. He���s already playing on a shredded knee; now, you may as well have him chuck it around ���til his arm falls off. Figuratively speaking, of course. If similarly thrice-injured running back Ralph Bolden can play, I���d expect him to not hold a whole lot back, either. And what���s Higgins got to worry about? What are they going to do, fire him? I would expect to see Purdue to play fast and loose and desperate and with utter disregard for conservative principles of football logic in this bowl game. They will let it all hang out, so to speak. At the very least, it will be fun. The past few weeks have been, so why stop now? This game will be played on Tuesday. By Wednesday, Marve���s football college career will be over. Bolden���s, too. And this coaching staff, to a man, will likely be looking for new employment. But what might be an otherwise forgettable bowl game will give this group one final chance to do something memorable at Purdue. j Neubert can be contacted at BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com GoldanDBlack express ��� volume 23, express 15��� ������ 5