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Few quarterbacks in Purdue history have led the program in passing four seasons. Rick Trefzger did it. In fact, he's the last Boilermaker signal-caller to pull off the feat.
Trefzger led Purdue in passing each season from 1993-96, arriving on campus as part of Jim Colletto's second recruiting class in 1992. Trefzger's best season was 1995, when he completed 59 percent of his passes for 1,521 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Purdue just missed going to bowls two times with Trefzger at the helm. In 1994, the Boilers went 5-4-2 (one win came via forfeit vs. Michigan State). In the 1995 season, Purdue finished 4-6-1 during an era that saw players like Mike Alstott, Brian Alford, Mark Fischer and Ryan Grigson play in West Lafayette.
Trefzger had two, 300-yard passing games and left campus having hit 58 percent of his attempts (383-of-663) for 5,063 yards with 24 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions.
GoldandBlack.com caught up with Trefzger.
GoldandBlack.com: What do you do today?
Trefzger: I work for Modernizing Medicine here in Boca Raton, Fla. My wife is Tawny and my kids are Tyler (13) and Raigen (11). I live in Lake Worth. Been down here since 1999. I have been married almost 18 years. Tawny is from south Florida. It has been a great time here. My kids go to a Christian school down here.
GoldandBlack.com: What is your role in your company?
Trefzger: I am vice president of sales. I started in 2012. We have north of 800 employees. The sales team has grown a lot over the years. Health care IT is a good space to be in. We have a very innovated solution. I apply some things I learned in athletics to my sales team.
GoldandBlack.com: You matriculated to Purdue from the Cleveland area, right?
Trefzger: Yes. I went to Lake Catholic High (Mentor, Ohio). We won a state championship when I was there. I played with Joe Jurevicious. I played under coach John Gibbons, who was inducted into the Ohio Hall of Fame as a coach. He was a long-time coach at Lake Catholic. We were a good power in the Cleveland area.
GoldandBlack.com: How did you end up at Purdue?
Trefzger: I was a blue-chip All-American as a junior and was being pretty heavily recruited by Big Ten schools. My senior year, I tore an ACL in the third game. In 1991, that put a damper on my senior year. I still had a couple of Big Ten schools that wanted me to visit. Moe Ankney recruited me for Purdue under Jim Colletto. They redshirted me my first year (1992) to get my knee in shape. Matt Pike was the quarterback. He got hurt against Wisconsin in a 1993 game. I got in and helped out in the second half and did well and played out the rest of the season. I battled for the job and won it in 1994, but I hurt the same knee I did vs. Iowa. I had a great time at Purdue.
GoldandBlack.com: What was the highlight of your career?
Trefzger: The highlight was I made some great friends I stay in touch with today. You grow in college. You have ups and down. We all fought though adversity and came close to making a bowl. We fought hard for each other. Alstott’s senior year (1995), we had a good season and were just a few points from being 7-4 or 8-3. We did well vs. some good teams. We tied Wisconsin that year. They went to the Rose Bowl that season.
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GoldandBlack.com: What win do you recall most?
Trefzger: Beating Michigan at home in 1996 was great. They were ranked No. 9. It was cold in Ross-Ade Stadium in November. The defense played lights out and the offense didn’t make mistakes. We didn’t score a lot, but we scored when needed and won 9-3. It was an amazing feeling. The goal posts got torn down and thrown into the Wabash River. I still have a piece of it. I was recruited by Michigan and wanted to beat them and did.
GoldandBlack.com: What was Jim Colletto like?
Trefzger: Coach Colletto expected 100 percent from you all the time. He was a good, hard coach. He put pressure on us. He made you a better person because he put pressure on you in games and the practice field.
GoldandBlack.com: Do you stay in touch with teammates?
Trefzger: We have a little Boiler group that stays in touch almost daily. Craig Williams, Chris Koeppen, Emmett Zitelli, Brian Goehl, Matt Pike, Mike Alsott, Bart Conley. It was fun playing with Alstott. He was an amazing person and player. Even to this day, I joke that I had the best seat in the house when I was playing. He was a game-changer. He was a committed guy. He stayed in Tampa and made the Ring of Honor. An incredible player. I loved my time at Purdue.
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