No. 3 Purdue receiver: Brian Alford
By CLIFF BRUNT
ISL Editor
Brian Alford was the first of the ultra-productive receivers during the Joe Tiller era.
He was a first-team Football News All-American and second-team Associated Press All-American in 1997 during Tiller’s first year, when he caught 63 passes for 1,228 yards and 10 touchdowns. That season, he had 215 yards against Minnesota and 209 against Toledo, the third- and fourth-best single-game totals in school history.
“He made the most of the coaching change from (Jim) Colletto to Tiller and had a terrific senior year as he developed into Billy Dicken’s go-to target, enjoying an All-Big Ten season and helping the Boilermakers go to a bowl game for the first time since 1984,” Doug Griffiths, Indy Sports Legends correspondent and former Gold and Black editor, said.
He was pretty good before Tiller arrived, too — the 6-foot-2, 175-pound speedster caught three touchdown passes against Northwestern in 1996 on his way to first-team all-Big Ten honors. He finished his career with 3,029 yards, fourth in school history, and is the school record-holder with 31 receiving touchdowns.
He was a big part of the Purdue football turnaround at the beginning of the Tiller era, Purdue play-by-play man Tim Newton said. “He had the ability to turn a small gain into a big one, and opposing defenses always had to know where he was.”
