WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Joe Tiller spent more than a decade redefining Purdue football.

He won more than any coach in school history, made bowl trips an annual rite and restored the school’s proud tradition as the Cradle of Quarterbacks. He proved the spread offense could work in the Midwest’s wind, rain and snow, much to the chagrin of critics, and added a new phrase to the students’ vocabulary, “Boiler Up!”

So forgive the old Cowboy if he gets a little sentimental Saturday against Indiana, especially if he finishes his coaching career by reclaiming the Old Oaken Bucket.

“I had not really allowed myself to think about wrapping this thing up until the band asked me to address them,” Tiller said. “Then they started playing ’Happy Trails to You’ and I thought, ’Man, that’s about it.’ That’s the first time, I thought ’Man, Tiller, this is it.”’

Few expected the end to come so soon.

After leading the Boilermakers to 10 bowl games in 11 seasons, this final go-around was supposed to be a grand tour.

Some thought Curtis Painter, Tiller’s latest quarterback find, could emerge as a Heisman Trophy candidate. There was talk that Purdue might even make a run at the Big Ten title and that a bowl bid was a foregone conclusion.

Things didn’t quite work out.

Painter struggled with decision-making and injuries, and the Boilermakers (3-8, 1-6) couldn’t get their season righted.

The revised plan now calls for Tiller to finish his 43-year coaching career with one more cherished moment: Taking back the trophy Indiana swiped last season.

“Every time we’ve won (the Bucket) is my favorite memory,” Tiller said. “We’ve had some good games, some close games, we’ve struggled and lost a couple of games. We’ve had some blowouts that really surprised me. But I really respect Indiana.”

It’s mutual, coach.

The Hoosiers (3-8, 1-6), like Purdue, now run the spread offense.

But unlike the Boilermakers, Indiana has struggled to emulate Tiller’s success. While Tiller manned the Purdue sidelines for 11 seasons, the Hoosiers went through four coaches and turned the traveling trophy into an almost permanent fixture in West Lafayette.

Indiana has beaten Tiller just twice — a 2001 slugfest near the end of coach Cam Cameron’s tenure and last year when Austin Starr kicked a 49-yard field goal with 30 seconds left to send Indiana to its first bowl game in 14 years. The kick fulfilled a bowl game goal set by late coach Terry Hoeppner.