1996 Purdue Boilermakers football team

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.

1996 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	3–8 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jim Colletto (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Tim Salem (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro set
Co-defensive coordinator	Bob Morris (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Ty Smith (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Brian Alford
Captain	Jon Krick, Emmett Zitelli
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1996 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Ohio State +		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 15 Northwestern +		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 7 Penn State		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 18 Iowa		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 20 Michigan		5	–	3					8	–	4
Michigan State		5	–	3					6	–	6
Wisconsin		3	–	5					8	–	5
Purdue		2	–	6					3	–	8
Minnesota		1	–	7					4	–	7
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	8
Illinois		1	–	7					2	–	9
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Preseason

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. However, Purdue did finish first in the Big Ten in rushing offense.

Going into 1996, there was doubt that Purdue could successfully replace all-time leading rusher Mike Alstott and have a winning season. 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.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	12:30 pm	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN	L 14–52	72,511
September 14	2:30 pm	at No. 9 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	NBC	L 0–35	59,075
September 21	7:00 pm	West Virginia*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		L 6–20	39,445
September 28	12:00 pm	NC State*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN Plus	W 42–21	39,739
October 5	2:00 pm	Minnesota	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 30–27	45,805
October 12	12:30 pm	at No. 10 Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN	L 14–31	96,653
October 19	3:30 pm	No. 2 Ohio State	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ABC	L 14–42	58,323
November 2	12:30 pm	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 25–33	78,330
November 9	12:30 pm	No. 9 Michigan	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	W 9–3	39,328
November 16	12:00 pm	at No. 13 Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		L 24–27	41,178
November 23	1:00 pm	Indiana	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)		L 16–33	49,197
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Roster

1996 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Donald Winston Fr QB 3 John Reeves  So WR 5 Willie Tillman Jr WR 6 Isaac Jones Jr QB 12 Billy Dicken  Jr QB 13 Rick Trefzger Sr FB 16 Eric Haddad Jr WR 20 Chris Daniels  Fr WR 24 Kirk Olivadotti Sr RB 25 Curtis Taylor Jr FB 36 Edwin Watson Jr FB 37 Dartanian Sanders Sr RB 43 Kendall Matthews Sr FB 45 Cullen Bryant Jr. Fr OT 52 Nick Sweeney So OT 54 Mark Fischer Sr G 56 Chukky Okobi Fr C 63 Jim Niedrach So G 72 Emmett Zitelli Sr OT 73 David Cohen So G 74 Wayne Finchum So G 76 Dan Maly So C 78 Brian Nicely So OT 79 Chad Manning So WR 80 Brian Alford  Jr TE 81 Brandon Jewell Sr TE 90 Pete VanderWeele Jr TE 91 Matt Light Fr	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 Jim Colletto 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

Depth chart

Defense
FS Derrick Brown Michael Hawthorne		WLB MLB SLB ⋅ Chris Koeppen ⋅ Noble Jones Ray Lee ⋅					SS Willie Burroughs Adrian Beasley
CB Derrick Winston Willie Washington		DE DT DT DE Rosevelt Colvin Jon Krick Leo Perez Craig Williams Chukie Nwokorie Anthony Gutwein Greg Smith David Nugent						CB Jamel Coleman Bryce Gillins
Offense
WR Brian Alford Kirk Olivadotti		LT LG C RG RT Mark Fischer Wayne Finchum Brian Nicely Emmett Zitelli Nick Sweeney Chad Manning Dan Maly Jim Niedrach Chukky Okobi David Cohen					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

Game summaries

NC State

• Edwin Watson 29 rushes, 227 yards

Minnesota

• Kendall Matthews 30 rushes, 131 yards

Michigan

See also: 1996 Michigan Wolverines football team

#9 Michigan at Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan 0 0 3 0 3 • Purdue 0 3 0 6 9 Date: November 9 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, Indiana Game 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 goal Tie 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

Statistics

Passing

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

Rushing

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

Receiving

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