College Football
Thursday, December 30
Low profile the theme at Outback
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- So much for the millennium celebration. By the time the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, the Georgia Bulldogs and Purdue Boilermakers will be tucked away in bed.

Yes, there's a down side to playing the first game of 2000.

Because the Outback Bowl begins at 11 a.m. EST on Saturday, Georgia coach Jim Donnan and his Purdue counterpart, Joe Tiller, imposed pre-midnight curfews for their teams the previous night.

The No. 19 Boilermakers (7-4) have to be in their rooms by 10 p.m. Friday, with lights out an hour later. The No. 21 Bulldogs (7-4) are required to be in by 11 o'clock.

Of course, that won't prevent many players from sneaking a peek at their hotel-room televisions as the 1900s slip away. If nothing else, they want to make sure everything is A-OK for Y2K.

"The hotel is probably the safest place to be," Georgia offensive tackle Jonas Jennings said Thursday. "With all the things that might happen, I want to be somewhere in the house when the clock strikes 12."

David Nugent, a defensive tackle for Purdue, will go to bed early -- with one slight caveat.

"I personally will set the alarm for 12, turn on the TV real quick to see the ball drop and go back to sleep," he said. "We've got to get up at like 6:30 on New Year's Day. That's kind of a bummer, but how many people can say they got to play in the first game of the millennium?"

Teammates Drew Brees and Chris Daniels also plan to watch the ball drop in Times Square, then doze off to sleep.

"We'll celebrate Saturday night," said Brees, the Heisman Trophy finalist who threw for 3,531 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Georgia kicker Hap Hines said he's "never been one to howl at the moon," and he sees no reason to party like it's the final day of 1999.

"I'm sure there are plenty of people who would like to be out enjoying themselves," he said. "But the reason we came here was to win the football game. That's the most important thing."

So, Hines plans to turn in early and let others worry about Y2K.

"I'm sure the sun will come up the next day. I'm sure the sky will still be blue in the year 2000. I don't think I'll look too much older," he said. "The last thing on my mind is the new millennium. The only thing on my mind is preparing for Purdue."

The Cotton Bowl is scheduled to kick off 10 minutes after the Outback Bowl, but it will actually be 10:10 a.m. in Dallas. Therefore, Texas and Arkansas will have to celebrate the New Year long before midnight.

"As much as I would like for our players to see the grand 2000 year come in, they just can't do it," said Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, who plans a 6 a.m. wake-up call the following morning.

"I told our coaches, 'Kiss your wife a little earlier because we are going to have a nice team meeting at about 9:30 p.m., and we are going to tuck the players nicely in bed about 10."'

Georgia quarterback Quincy Carter usually spends New Year's Eve in church, do he doesn't feel like he's missing out on a big celebration.

"With the new millennium, there's a lot of rumors about what's going to happen," Carter said. "It's good that we're keeping the focus on football. We can have our fun after the game. It's an early game."

Donnan was so mindful of winning the bowl -- Georgia lost three of its final four games during the regular season -- that he admittedly overlooked the curfew's ramifications on this very special New Year's Eve.

"I haven't thought about that," he said. "We have to play a game at 11 o'clock. Our pre-game meal is something like 7 a.m. But I haven't thought about that, to be honest with you."

As for Jennings, he won't be able to go to sleep until he's sure all is well.

"I'll be up watching TV," he said, "to see if it blacks out."

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