Austin Appleby wins Purdue's starting quarterback competition

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Purdue has its starting quarterback.

Austin Appleby, who started the final seven games as a sophomore last season, will head into the 2015 campaign as the Boilermakers' starter, head coach Darrell Hazell said Tuesday.

Appleby made seven starts and played in 10 of Purdue's 12 games a season ago, completing 52.9 percent of his passes for 1,449 yards and 10 touchdowns, also throwing 11 interceptions.

[MORE BIG TEN: Hayden Rettig wins QB job as Rutgers suspends Chris Laviano, four others]

Appleby took over for Danny Etling in the middle of last season. His rise to the starting job mirrored Etling's, who took over for Rob Henry in the middle of the 2013 season before beating out Appleby for the starting gig last preseason. Now Appleby has taken a similar path.

After back-to-back years of in-season quarterback shuffling, Hazell surely hopes he can stick with one guy all season.

Appleby beat out David Blough this summer. Blough is a redshirt freshman rated a three-star prospect by Rivals coming out of high school in Texas. Purdue's top recruit this year, quarterback Elijah Sindelar, is expected to redshirt.

Purdue opens the season Sept. 6 at Marshall.

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