Purdue QB Austin Appleby transfers to Florida
Two former Purdue quarterbacks may start against one another in an SEC game next season. For real.
As first reported by GoldandBlack.com, Austin Appleby is leaving Purdue for Florida for his final year of college football. Appleby later confirmed the move on his Twitter account.
As a graduate transfer, he’ll be able to compete for the Gators immediately. The move comes six months after Danny Etling transferred from Purdue to LSU. Thusly, when the Gators and Tigers meet on Oct. 8, the former Boilermaker teammates could potentially start against one another.
Appleby replaced Etling as Purdue’s starter midway through the 2014 season and threw for 1,449 yards, 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in seven starts. He also rushed for 198 yards and five scores that season.
He was the Boilermakers’ starter when the 2015 season began, but was replaced by redshirt freshman David Blough. Overall in 2015, Appleby threw for 1,260 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions in five games (four starts).
At Florida, the 6-foot-5, 239-pound Appleby will compete for the starting role with Treon Harris and Luke Del Rio, an Oregon State transfer. Harris started for the Gators after Will Grier was suspended for a failed drug test. Grier then transferred after the regular season.
Harris threw for 1,676 yards, nine touchdowns and interceptions while completing only 50.6 percent of his passes. Florida will also add quarterback Feleipe Franks, the No. 29-rated recruit in the 2016 class.
For more Purdue news, visit GoldandBlack.com.
For more Florida news, visit InsideTheGators.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
