1997 Purdue Honors & Awards
Team*Beat No. 24-ranked Oklahoma St. in the Alamo Bowl (5-1 bowl mark) *Beat No. 24-ranked Wisconsin *Made the Top 25 polls for the first time since 1988 (climbed to a high of 15th in final AP and Coaches' polls on Jan. 3) *Set a school-record of 11.0 yards per play vs. Wisconsin (51-559 yds.) *Ranked first in Big Ten in total offense, seventh nationally *Ranked first in Big Ten in passing, 13th nationally *Ranked second in Big Ten in scoring, 22nd nationally *Got off to its best start (6-1) since 1978 *Won six straight games for first time since 1980 *Achieved first winning season and bowl bid since 1984 *Won at Minnesota for the first time since 1983 *Scored its most points (59) since 1947 in a single game (Minnesota) *Upset 12th-ranked Notre Dame for the Shillelagh Trophy *Beat Illinois for the Cannon Trophy *Beat Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket; claimed all three trophy rivalry games for the first time since 1985 *Finished in a three-way tie for second place in the Big Ten, its highest finish since 1984 (6-3, second place tie). *Nine overall wins were the most since 1980 (9-3 campaign). *Set school records for points in a season with 396 (old mark 354 in 10 games in 1969), total yards (5,510-459.2 avg.) and turnover margin (+14.0) Coach Joe Tiller *Football News National Coach-of-the-Year *Kickoff National Coach-of-the-Year *Big Ten Dave McClain Coach-of-the-Year *GTE Region 3 Coach-of-the-Year (includes the Big Ten, MAC and Conference USA) by the American Football Coaches Association *National Coach-of-the-Year by national syndicated columnist Mike Lopresti *Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach-of-the-Year finalist (one of six) *The Sporting News National Coach-of-the-Year finalist (one of 12) Brian Alford *First team All-American by Football News *Second team All-American by Associated Press *Third team All-American by The Sporting News *First team All-Big Ten (coaches and media) *Purdue Captain and Co-Team MVP *Third-round NFL Draft Pick by the New York Giants *Set Purdue single-game record for pass receiving yards with 215 at Minnesota *Purdue's career leader in pass receiving yardage (2,968) and TDs (30) *Set Purdue single-season pass receiving yardage (1,167) record *Career-wise, ranks fourth in Big Ten in TDs, fourth in receiving yards and eighth in catches *ESPN2-TV Purdue Player-of-the-Game vs. Iowa Adrian Beasley *Alamo Bowl Outstanding Defensive Player Brent Botts *Academic All-Big Ten Lee Brush *Kiwanis Citizenship Award *Red Mackey Award Rosevelt Colvin *Second team All-Big Ten (media), honorable mention (coaches) *Purdue Captain *Big Ten Special Teams Player-of-the-Week vs. Michigan State Billy Dicken *First team All-Big Ten (coaches), second team (media) *Alamo Bowl Outstanding Offensive Player *Co-Team MVP *ABC-TV Purdue Player-of-the-Game vs. Notre Dame *ESPN2-TV Purdue Player-of-the-Game vs. Michigan State *National Player-of-the-Week by College Insider and Big Ten Offensive Player-of-the-Week after Notre Dame *Big Ten Offensive Co-Player-of-the-Week after Wisconsin *Tied Purdue single-game record with five TD passes at Minnesota; tied Purdue single-game record with 60 pass attempts vs. Penn State *ESPN Purdue Player-of-the-Game vs. Penn State Brian Dinkins *Verle Campbell Scout Team Award Willie Fells *Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (media) Mark Fischer *Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (coaches and media) *Purdue Captain *Hula Bowl selection *Fifth-round NFL Draft Pick by the Washington Redskins *Academic All-Big Ten *Red Mackey Award *Leonard Wilson Award Brandon Gorin *Academic All-Big Ten Lee Johnson *Pop Doan Award Noble Jones *Academic All-Big Ten Brandon Kaser *Academic All-District 5 *Big Ten Special Teams Player-of-the-Week vs. Toledo *Academic All-Big Ten Matt Ludwig *Academic All-Big Ten Chad Manning *Academic All-Big Ten *Noble Kizer Award Warren Moore *Academic All-Big Ten Jim Niedrach *Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (coaches and media) Mike Rose *Big Ten Defensive Player-of-the-Week vs. Northwestern *ESPN-TV Purdue Player-of-the-Game vs. Northwestern *Tied Ross-Ade Stadium single-game record for most pass INTs *Tied Purdue single-game record for most fumble recoveries John Reeves *Leonard Wilson Award Shane Ryan *Pop Doan Award Todd Stelma *Academic All-Big Ten Vinny Sutherland *Second team Freshman All-American Robert Tolbert *Academic All-Big Ten Steve Turpin *Verle Campbell Scout Team Award Edwin Watson *Honorable Mention All-Big Ten (coaches) *Pop Doan Award *Seventh-round NFL Draft Pick by the Green Bay Packers