American college football season
The 1996 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season . Led by Jim Colletto in his sixth and final season as head coach, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 2–6 in conference play, placing eighth in the Big Ten. Purdue played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana .
Purdue started the season 0–3, averaging under seven points per game. Over the final eight games the Boilermakers went 3–5, failing to qualify for a bowl game for the 12 straight season. The Boilermakers also failed to win a road game.
Brian Alford received numerous postseason accolades, including First Team All-Big Ten honors by both the coaches and the media, and broke the Purdue record for most receiving touchdowns in a single season. Senior captain Emmett Zitelli was selected to the Second Team All-Big team by both the coaches and the media. After the season, none of the Boilermakers were selected in the 1997 NFL draft , Zitelli signed as an undrafted free agent.
In 1995 the Purdue Boilermakers had the second best season in the Colletto era. The team finished with a 4–6–1 regular season record, failing to qualify for a postseason bowl game for the 11th straight year. The Boilermakers struggled to win games, facing what was rated as the third most difficult schedule in the nation in 1995.[ 1] However, Purdue did finish first in the Big Ten in rushing offense.[ 2]
Going into 1996, there was doubt that Purdue could successfully replace all-time leading rusher Mike Alstott and have a winning season.[ 3] Entering the season, Colletto thought that each of his quarterbacks would be a contributor on offense, electing Rick Trefzger as the team's starting quarterback, and moving former tailback, Edwin Watson to fullback to replace Alstott.[ 4]
Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance Source August 31 12:30 pm at Michigan State ESPN L 14–5272,511 September 14 2:30 pm at No. 9 Notre Dame * NBC L 0–3559,075 September 21 7:00 pm West Virginia * L 6–2039,445 [ 5] September 28 12:00 pm NC State * Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN ESPN Plus W 42–2139,739 [ 6] October 5 2:00 pm Minnesota Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN W 30–2745,805 October 12 12:30 pm at No. 10 Penn State ESPN L 14–3196,653 October 19 3:30 pm No. 2 Ohio State Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN ABC L 14–4258,323 November 2 12:30 pm at Wisconsin ESPN L 25–3378,330 November 9 12:30 pm No. 9 Michigan Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN ESPN2 W 9–339,328 November 16 12:00 pm at No. 13 Northwestern L 24–2741,178 November 23 1:00 pm Indiana L 16–3349,197 *Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time
[ 7]
1996 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Pos. # Name Class FS 2 Derrick Brown Jr CB 4 Derrick Winston Sr SS 7 Adrian Beasley So DB 10 Lee Brush Jr FS 11 Michael Hawthorne So CB 14 Jamel Coleman Jr LB 19 Joe Hagins Sr DB 22 Lamar Conard Fr SS 23 Willie Burroughs Jr CB 27 Willie Washington Fr LB 28 Mike Rose Fr DB 29 Reggie Johnson LB 32 Noble Jones So LB 34 Chike Okeafor Jr CB 38 Bryce Gillins Fr LB 29 Nick Zitelli DB 46 Glenn Davis LB 48 Chris Koeppen Sr DE 49 Chukie Nwokorie So LB 51 Troy Bacon DT 53 Jon Krick Sr LB 57 Ray Lee So DE 58 Craig Williams Sr DE 59 Rosevelt Colvin So DT 71 Anthony Gutwein Jr DE 82 David Nugent Fr LB 86 Scott Dobbins DT 97 Greg Smith Sr DT 98 Leo Perez Sr
Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 17 Chris Arnce Jr P 26 Danny Rogers Fr P 29 Brandon Kaser So PK 96 Shane Ryan Fr
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Tim Salem (offensive coordinator) Bob Morris (co-defensive coordinator, defensive backs) Ty Smith (co-defensive coordinator, linebackers) Chester Caddas (defensive line) Randy Fichtner (wide receivers, recruiting coordinator) Tom Freeman (offensive line) Leroy Keyes (running backs) Karl Morgan (defensive line) Kurt Van Valkenburgh (defensive backs) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
Defense
[ 8]
WLB MLB SLB ⋅ Chris Koeppen ⋅ Noble Jones Ray Lee ⋅
SS Willie Burroughs Adrian Beasley
CB Derrick Winston Willie Washington
CB Jamel Coleman Bryce Gillins
Offense
[ 9] TE Brandon Jewell Pete Vander Weele
WR Willie Tillman Isaac Jones
QB Rick Trefzger John Reeves
RB Kendall Matthews Curtis Taylor
FB Edwin Watson Dartanian Sanders
Special teams PK Shane Ryan PK Chris Arnce P Danny Rogers P Brandon Kaser KR Joe Hagins PR Donald Winston LS Chris Daniels H Rick Trefzger
Edwin Watson 29 rushes, 227 yards Kendall Matthews 30 rushes, 131 yards #9 Michigan at Purdue 1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 0 3 0 3 • Purdue 0 3 0 6 9
Date: November 9Location: Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IndianaGame attendance: 40,624 Scoring summary 2 7:22 Purdue Shane Ryan 28 yard field goal Purdue 3-0 3 10:07 Michigan Remy Hamilton 21 yard field goalTie 3-3 4 7:20 Purdue Brian Alford 5 yard pass from Rick Trefzger (kick failed)Purdue 9-3
Purdue's first win versus Michigan since 1984
Player Comp Att Yards TD INT Rick Trefzger 96 170 1,158 8 8 John Reeves 51 102 772 6 5 Billy Dicken 40 81 518 1 4
Player Att Yards TD Edwin Watson 194 768 6 Kendall Matthews 123 471 3 John Reeves 52 157 Rick Trefzger 43 56 1 Donald Winston 2 49 Lee Johnson 12 43 Eric Haddad 6 24 Chris Koeppen 1 24 Brian Alford 3 22 Dartanian Sanders 5 18 Billy Dicken 20 -40
Player Rec Yards TD Brian Alford 63 1,057 12 Willie Tillman 40 557 2 Edwin Watson 25 220 Isaac Jones 14 241 1 Kirk Olivadotti 16 171 Brandon Jewell 11 92 Kendall Matthews 9 29 Chris Daniels 1 22 Eric Haddad 2 19 Lee Johnson 2 16 Matt Light 1 16 Reggie Johnson 1 7 Donald Winston 1 5 Dartanian Sanders 1 -4
[ 10]
^ "1995 Purdue Boilermakers Stats" . www.sports-reference.com . USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties. Retrieved December 4, 2013 . ^ "Tim Salem Bio" . www.fightingillini.com . University of Illinois-Champaign. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013 . ^ Andrew Bagnato (November 5, 1996). "Purdue's Colletto 2nd Coach To Exit Big Ten Within Week" . Chicago Tribune . Retrieved December 4, 2013 . ^ Geoff Mosher (August 29, 1996). "Boiling point" . ww.collegian.psu.edu . The Daily Collegian. Retrieved December 4, 2013 . ^ "Purdue's offense feels mountain of W. Va. pressure" . The Indianapolis Star . September 22, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Reeves, Watson key easy Purdue victory" . The South Bend Tribune . September 29, 1996. Retrieved February 10, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF) . Purdue University Athletics. p. 93. Retrieved February 5, 2023 . ^ "Purdue's Final Two-Deep for 1996" . www.purduesports.com . Purdue University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013 . ^ "Purdue's Final Two-Deep for 1996" . www.purduesports.com . Purdue University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved December 3, 2013 . ^ "1996 Purdue football final statistics" . Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2010 .
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