The way Joe Tiller talked before the season, you would have thought he was taking over forever losers Prairie View A&M or Mattoon.

At the Big Ten media day, Tiller mentioned his team's lack of speed, depth and ability.

"We don't have enough guys at Purdue right now in our opinion to go out every Saturday and win a football game," Tiller said. "We don't have a lot of depth."

"If I've been asked once, I've been asked 100 times, 'What are you going to do about Purdue's team speed?' " Tiller said. "Shy of leg transplants, I'm not sure there's much we can do at this time."

The preseason football magazines agreed with Tiller. Athlon's predicted an eighth-place finish in the Big Ten for the Boilermakers. Street & Smith's and Bob Griese's Yearbook both picked Purdue ninth.

Turns out nobody knew what they were talking, or writing, about.

The slow Boilermakers sped off to a 5-1 start. Ranked No. 22 this week by The Associated Press, Purdue is one win away from qualifying for a bowl game.

In the land of basketball and astronauts, Tiller has made a quick impression. The gory days of the Jim Colletto era are all but forgotten.

Purdue is one of a handful of teams that have outplayed the predictions.

Georgia pounded Vanderbilt last Saturday to match last season's five wins. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 16 going into Saturday's game with Kentucky.

Oklahoma State went 10-2 in 1987-88 with Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders starring at running back. But the NCAA turned the Oklahoma State program into mush, the team finishing below .500 eight consecutive years. The low point came in 1991, when the Cowboys finished 0-10-1.

Oklahoma State already has guaranteed an end to the losing seasons. The Cowboys are 6-0 and No. 12 in the latest poll.

Once a perennial Rose Bowl contender, UCLA went 5-6 in '96. That made it two 5-6 records in three years, not a great way to sell tickets in fickle Los Angeles. This year, the Bruins have bounced back from an 0-2 start to win five in a row. They are ranked No. 13 and again thinking about playing a bowl game at home (in Pasadena, Calif.)

Preseason magazines picked Washington State as low as seventh in the Pacific-10. Why not? The Cougars were 5-6 in '96 and never have been able to win in consecutive seasons during Mike Price's tenure. But 5-6 last year meant it was time for Price's team to have a winning season. The Cougars are 6-0, ranked No. 10 and a top contender for the Rose Bowl.

The five surprise teams didn't make the Top 25 by accident. Here are the secrets to their success:

Quarterbacks

Show us an overachieving team, and we'll show you a team with a great quarterback.

In one case, it wasn't a surprise. Washington State expected a big season out of Ryan Leaf, and the junior responded. If the Cougars go undefeated, Leaf might get to spend a December day in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

The other four are winning with unexpected seasons from their quarterbacks.

Purdue's Billy Dicken wasn't even the starter at the beginning of training camp. The former News-Gazette All-Stater from Bloomington quickly moved past John Reeves.

"Probably the single biggest change has been the emergence of Dicken as the No. 1 quarterback," Tiller said.

Dicken is among national leaders in total offense and passing efficiency. Keep it up, and he's a lock for All-Big Ten quarterback. Not bad for a guy who had 1,111 passing yards the first three years of his career.

Going into this season, UCLA quarterback Cade McNown had an interception to touchdown ratio of 24:19. He completed 52 percent of his passes in '96.

In '97, the junior is playing more like former Bruin Troy Aikman. McNown ranks fourth nationally in passing efficiency and 18th in total offense. He has 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Georgia quarterback Mike Bobo completed 50 percent of his passes as a junior and was intercepted 16 times.

Bobo is no Bozo this year. He's hitting 67 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Oklahoma State didn't know who was going to play quarterback this year. The combination of freshman Tony Lindsay and sophomore Chris Chaloupka is working well, ranking first and fourth, respectively, in Big 12 passing efficiency. Like Dicken, Lindsay doesn't mind running. In the last two games, he rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns.

Schedule

Want to have a successful season? Better lighten the load.

Playing powers week after week does wonders for your reputation, but it kills a team's chance for success.

Oklahoma State built confidence early in the season against ho-hum opponents. The Cowboys barely got past Iowa State in the opener. Then, they won easy games against Southwestern Louisiana, Fresno State and Northeast Louisiana.

By the time Oklahoma State played real teams, Texas and Colorado, its players had a taste of success.

Georgia went the same route, with poundings of Arkansas State and Northeast Louisiana sandwiched around a league-mandated game with South Carolina.

Washington State's soft nonconference schedule came in handy. The Cougars opened with games against UCLA and Southern Cal. For the first time in the history of the school, Washington State swept both games.

Washington State followed a tougher-than-expected game against Illinois with a 58-0 laugher against Boise State.

UCLA lost its first two games by a combined nine points. Facing a game at Texas, it could have gone 0-3. Instead, the Bruins pounded the Longhorns 66-3 and started firing rumors for former Illini coach John Mackovic.

Since the 0-2 start, UCLA has outscored five opponents 245-81.

Purdue opened the season with a loss at Toledo, which is undefeated. The Boilermakers beat then-No. 12 Notre Dame in their home opener. Ball State came at a good time, allowing Purdue to play less-than-perfect the week after the big win over the Irish.

Coaching

The five surprises all seem to click with their coaches.

If Colorado had a clue, it would have hired Bob Simmons when Bill McCartney retired. Despite McCartney's recommendation, the Buffaloes went with Rich Neuheisel. The former UCLA quarterback plays a mean guitar and knows how to ski, but it's still unclear if he can coach. Colorado is 3-3.

Simmons took the impossible job at Oklahoma State. Hurt by the aftershocks of probation, Simmons didn't panic. The Cowboys made steady progress, going 4-8 and 5-6 in Simmons' first two seasons.

Simmons' biggest impact has been on defense. The Cowboys are ranked third in the nation in rushing yards allowed and sixth in points allowed. Give the credit to Simmons, who coached linebackers and the defensive line during a successful stay at Colorado.

Tiller is the oldest of four new coaches in the Big Ten. He's also just what the program needed.

A funny guy off the field, Tiller is considered a disciplinarian. He proved it by booting several players off the team for academic and social problems.

Discipline doesn't have to be mean. Dicken said Tiller is always positive when he talks with the players.

The Boilermakers have worked hard for Tiller.

"This team has played up to their ability each time out," Tiller said. "We were hoping they would play hard and put it on the line each time out."

Jim Donnan wasn't Georgia's first choice to replace Ray Goff in 1995. The school first hired Glen Mason, but he later changed his mind.

Like Tiller, Donnan keeps the fans and the players laughing. Before a game earlier this season, Donnan rode to practice in a steam roller. Trust us, it was funny.