No. 19 Boilermakers

Leading into the Sept. 5 season opener against Syracuse, GoldAndBlack.com will count down the days 'til the 2004 lidlifter by highlighting the former Boilermakers who wore the jersey corresponding to the days remaining until kickoff.

Paul Beery 1974-77, FL-DB

Jim Bosche 1980-82, P

Cris Dishman 1984-87, DB

Larry Emch 1966-68, QB/DB

Joe Hagins 1993-96, LB-DB

Joe O’Leary 1991-92, K

Chuck Piebes 1970-72, QB-DB

R’Kes Starling 1999, 2001, DB

Derrick Taylor (also 3) 1980-81, CB

*Source: Purdue Football Information Guide

As you can see, there hasn’t been an overload of former Boilermakers to wear jersey No. 19. Highlighting the group are multi-dimensional players, some of which spent time on both sides of the ball.

Paul Beery started his Boilermaker career as a receiver, playing his freshman and sophomore years on offense. The Fort Wayne product led Purdue in receiving in 1975, and then was moved to defense prior to the ’76 season. The experiment worked, as he made first team All-Big Ten. His four interceptions at Wisconsin in an 18-16 win over the Badgers Oct. 9, 1976 remains a Boilermaker record. He suffered a knee injury in Purdue’s upset of No. 1 Michigan later that year, and that slowed him somewhat his senior year in 1977.

In 1970, Chuck Piebes found himself as the starting quarterback in his first college game as a sophomore (freshmen were not eligible). He led the Boilermakers to wins over TCU and at No. 3 Stanford as the signal caller, but lost his job to Gary Danielson in the seventh game of the season. He out-dueled ’70 Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett, connecting on 15-of-20 passes and scoring one touchdown in the shocking win. The following year, Piebes was moved to defensive back, leading the Big Ten in passes broken up in ’71 and was named second team All-Big Ten.

Though he never played offense, Cris Dishman ran track in addition to his football duties. The Louisville, Ky., product never hit full stride at Purdue, suffering through academic problems as a Boilermaker But he started three seasons in West Lafayette before heading off to a highly successful NFL career, which included a pair of Pro Bowl appearances.

Joe Hagins spent the majority of his time on defense, limiting his cameo appearances on offense to scoring situations. He scored six touchdowns in seven rushing attempts as a sophomore in 1994. Hagins bounced from linebacker to safety and back to linebacker in his career. His best year was his senior year in 1996, when he had 14 tackles for loss and five sacks to go along with 79 tackles.

As a reserve in the Boilermaker secondary from 1966-68, Larry Emch had his moments, picking off a couple passes and sharing punting duties with Bob Griese as a sophomore in 1966 and Dick Berg in ’67 and ’68.

Jim Bosche was the Boilermakers' punter on the 1980 Liberty Bowl championship team, averaging 35.4 per kick in 45 attempts.

The final kicker in the group was Joe O’Leary. After suffering through the trauma of the 1991 Bucket game when he missed 4-of-5 field goals, including a potential game winner from 35 yards with just 24 second left, O’Leary responded with a strong senior season in 1992 when he nailed 15-of-19 field goal attempts.

1. Paul Beery

2. Chuck Piebes

3. Cris Dishman

4. Joe Hagins

5. Joe O’Leary

Share your favorite memories of any of the No. 19s on the Knucklehead Central.

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