A look back: The QB transfers

Danny Etling and Austin Appleby. The former Boilermaker quarterbacks have moved on to LSU and Florida and serve, at least to some extent, as an unpleasant reminder that the program has received more attention for this strange phenomenon than it has for its own exploits. And that is putting it mildly.

Yet, while we can't think of another example in the history of college football (though there probably is one we can't think of) that two transfers from the same school faced off, quarterback transfers are not a new happening in the history of Purdue football. If our count is correct, nearly a dozen quarterbacks have left the program in the last 40 years, but only three who had started games as a Boilermaker before leaving the program. Here are the three. If you are a long-time Purdue fan, each bring back a twinge of discomfort.

It hasn't happened before, and it hasn't happened since. When Coach Leon Burtnett recruited Jeff George out of Warren Central H.S. in Indianapolis, he was the No. 1 prospect in the land. George passed on Miami (Fla.) and was a Day 1 starter for the Boilermakers. But his career went south pretty much after the above image ran in Sports Illustrated as George was carted off the field in an early Big Ten season loss to Minnesota with his mother in tow.

George battled numerous injuries his freshman season and threw just four TD passes to go along with 15 interceptions. He did return to help the Boilermakers upset Indiana in the Bucket Game. Yet it was a couple weeks prior to the Bucket Game that George began to think Purdue was no longer a fit. Burtnett had been let go, and when the Boilermaker program brought in Fred Akers as coach, George decided to transfer. George presumed Akers would bring a run-first offense like the one he used at Texas.

After committing to Jimmy Johnson at Miami, he backed out after not being guaranteed a starting spot, ultimately ending up at Illinois. George even faced his former college team on two occasions before becoming the No. 1 draft pick of the Indianapolis Colts. He took snaps for five NFL teams during his long pro career.

Another head-scratcher was the transfer of Brian Fox. The quarterback was part of one of Purdue's better recruiting class in recent memory in 1988 and the Orlando native earned a starting role in his true freshman season, despite being just 17 years old. In the image above, Fox is helping Purdue to its most recent win at Ohio Stadium, a 31-26 shocker at the 'Shoe.

Fox showed promise, but wasn't a standout in his rookie season. Like George, Fox was saddled with a weak supporting cast. In all, Fox threw seven TD passes and 13 picks as the Boilermakers finished a disappointing 4-7, winning just one game after beating Ohio State.

Whether it was Fox thinking he could return home as a starter, or there was another unknown reason, he promptly left the program for the University of Florida. Under Steve Spurrier, Fox could never got to the field, playing behind Shane Matthews for much of his career.

Much like Fox, Hance was a long way from home. The Southern California native chose Purdue and redshirted the year the Boilermakers went to the Rose Bowl. So he had the unenviable task of having to replace Drew Brees behind center.

As a redshirt freshman in 2001, the Boilermakers got off to a 5-1 start, but things turned for Hance and the Boilermakers in the game from which this image was taken - a 38-13 loss to No. 2o and eventual Big Ten champ Illinois. Two weeks later, Hance was replaced by true freshman Kyle Orton at halftime of a scoreless tie with Michigan State, and never started again.

Before the Boilermakers concluded the season with an appearance in the 2001 Sun Bowl, Hance had departed, ultimately landing at USC as a non-scholarship player. He played more than Fox did at Florida, getting in five games as a backup in 2003. But injuries and challenges on the depth chart - notably Matt Leinart - effectively ended Hance's playing time.

Two other quarterbacks, Chris Gebert (1977) and Mike Segard (1998) are the only others we could find to have thrown passes in a game for the Boilermakers before transferring to other schools. Gebert, who hailed from Wichita, Kan., and was mired behind Mark Herrmann on the Boilermaker depth chart, left for nearby Kansas and had a productive career for the Jayhawks. Segard, threw four passes in a mop-up role for Drew Brees in 1999 before transferring back to Grand Valley State in his home state of Michigan.

Tom George, who was in the same recruiting class as Herrmann and Gebert, never got into a game at Purdue, but transferred to Western Michigan where he was a two-year starter in 1980 and '81.

Jim Mitchell, who joined Brees as part of Joe Tiller's first recruiting class at Purdue, transferred to Western Illinois, he wound up playing tight end. Years later, Ryan Breska left the program for Utah, where he played football and baseball. After him, Scott Carroll moved on to Missouri State on his way to a Major League Baseball career.

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