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

## 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

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| • Purdue | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
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 | |