More: Purdue bowl announcement notebook
After five years at Purdue, David Blough couldn't be more excited to finally participate in a bowl game.
Purdue was selected Sunday to play Auburn in the Music City Bowl on Friday, Dec. 28, 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN at Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans.
The fifth-year senior quarterback missed last year's Foster Farms Bowl after injuring his leg and ankle. The years prior, his Boilermakers were 5-19 in his first two seasons active behind center. After emerging from a backup role to start most of the 2018 season, Blough is one player who says he won't take any of this experience for granted.
"After seeing some of the rough days here, we struggled to get over three wins a few years ago, (and) now being able to be a part of that after five years, it is special," Blough said Sunday night during Purdue's bowl media conference. "I take a lot of pride in it. I'm going to approach it with the respect it deserves and we'll look forward to competing in that game. It means a great deal to me."
Blough watched Elijah Sindelar lead Purdue in the final four games of the 2017 season, including three straight wins to secure a postseason opportunity. Sindelar threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns in the 38-35 win over Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Blough was selected earlier this week as a third-team selection to the media's All-Big Ten team and an honorable-mention selection by the league's coaches. Blough, who started the season losing out in the starting quarterback battle to Sindelar, only to win it back and keep it from Week 2 on — he played very well, but Sindelar was injured, also — has tied Drew Brees and Jim Everett this year with seven games of 300 passing yards or more in a single season. Blough currently has completed 66.6 percent of his passes, with 3,521 passing yards and 25 touchdowns this season.
The Music City Bowl, which will be the first matchup between these schools and Purdue's first game in Nashville since 1942, will be the final collegiate game for Blough. He said Sunday he's seen the lows of this Purdue football program and leading the Boilermakers on the field in this bowl game will be one of the highlights of his career.
"You're going to get our best shot, that's for sure," Blough said. "You've got senior leaders on the team who are going to make sure we try to end this thing the right way. So, yeah, it means a lot after some of the things we've been through, obviously, but yeah, it feels good."
The Music City Bowl will also be a matchup of Texas natives at quarterback as Blough and Auburn's two-year starter, Jarrett Stidham, were player camp instructors at the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana this past summer. Stidham, who is from approximately two hours southwest of Blough's hometown of Carrollton, Texas, in Stephenville has struggled this season after experiencing a remarkable first-year campaign as a transfer to Auburn. After leading the Tigers to a Western Division championship and Peach Bowl berth, Stidham has seen his completion percentage dip from 66 to 60 percent, his passing yards per game dip from 225.6 to 201.8 and his touchdowns dip from 18 to 13. Despite that drop in production this season, Stidham is still projected as a possible second- to mid-round selection in the upcoming NFL draft in what is considered a light quarterback year.
Stidham began his career at Baylor but transferred after the Art Briles scandal engulfed the program and enrolled in a junior college without football near his hometown to make himself an immediately eligible transfer with three years remaining.
Blough said he's also long-time high school and summer camp friends with Stidham's fiance, Kennedy Brown, the daughter of Houston Rockets CEO Tad Brown.
"Obviously Jarrett is a fantastic player and great guy," he said. "We got to spend some time together at the (Manning Academy) down there, and ... Jarrett and I have stayed in touch and been friends and obviously he's a fantastic player and great quarterback and our defense will be up for the challenge," Blough said. "Jarrett being from Stephenville in Texas, I kind of grew up hearing about him and knowing who he was, it will be fun to square off against those guys."
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