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Here is every major appearance by Austin Appleby at Purdue:
2014
| Opponent | CMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | YPA | TD | INT | Result |
| Central Michigan | 7 | 17 | 41.2 | 78 | 4.6 | 1 | 0 | L 38-17 |
| Iowa | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 11 | 1.8 | 0 | 1 | L 24-10 |
| at Illinois | 15 | 20 | 75.0 | 202 | 10.1 | 1 | 0 | W 38-27 |
| Michigan State | 24 | 37 | 64.9 | 211 | 5.7 | 1 | 1 | L 45-31 |
| at Minnesota | 16 | 26 | 61.5 | 153 | 5.9 | 3 | 2 | L 39-38 |
| at Nebraska | 18 | 46 | 39.1 | 216 | 4.7 | 1 | 2 | L 35-14 |
| Wisconsin | 17 | 37 | 45.9 | 204 | 5.5 | 1 | 0 | L 34-16 |
| Northwestern | 26 | 48 | 54.2 | 251 | 5.2 | 2 | 2 | L 38-14 |
| at Indiana | 19 | 35 | 54.3 | 123 | 3.5 | 0 | 3 | L 23-16 |
2015
| Opponent | CMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | YPA | TD | INT | Result |
| at Marshall | 31 | 48 | 64.6 | 270 | 5.6 | 1 | 4 | L 41-31 |
| Indiana State | 20 | 34 | 58.8 | 289 | 8.5 | 4 | 0 | W 38-14 |
| Virginia Tech | 9 | 28 | 32.1 | 110 | 3.9 | 0 | 2 | L 51-24 |
| at Iowa | 23 | 40 | 57.5 | 259 | 6.5 | 1 | 0 | L 40-20 |
| Indiana | 36 | 57 | 63.2 | 332 | 5.8 | 2 | 2 | L 54-36 |
Purdue was 3-9 in 2014 and 2-10 last year. They clearly had lots of issues.
Appleby completed 52.9% of his passes in 2014 and 57.5% last year. He left Purdue with a negative touchdown/interception ratio at 18/19. Only twice in two years did he put up more than six yards per attempt against FBS competition.
Also of note: when Appleby mentioned earlier in the week that all stadiums were the same, I assumed he'd played at Ohio State or Michigan.
Nope. He was on the bench for two trips to Michigan State and Wisconsin, plus a visit to Penn State as a freshman. His most notable live action came at Iowa (capacity 70,585) and at Nebraska (91,585), which, all due respect to the 90's Cornhusker squads that dominated us...2014 was not a 90's Cornhusker squad. And all due respect to Purdue, but they weren't commanding the kind of volume the Gators will produce in a big venue.
Maybe the problem was coaching. Either way, good news there: Appleby's offensive coordinator at Purdue was John Shoop, Bob's brother.
Maybe Jim McElwain is some kind of quarterback whisperer. Maybe he'll make use of his legs, which were effective against Illinois and Minnesota in 2014 but produced 56 carries for 92 yards total in 2015.
There are a lot of maybes for this kid in his first start in a Florida uniform. Tennessee's defense needs to turn them into definitely not.