Former UCLA quarterback Austin Burton is leaving Westwood for West Lafayette, as Pete Thamel reported for Yahoo Sports on Monday that Burton will land at Purdue.
Burton entered the portal on March 3 and committed to Purdue despite not visiting campus or meeting any of his coaches face-to-face.
Burton is on track to graduate in July and will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
He will join a quarterback room that features two viable incumbents for the QB1 job at Purdue. Junior Aidan O’Connell completed 62.8 percent of his 164 passes for 1,101 yards with eight touchdowns against four picks in six appearances, while sophomore Jack Plummer, who threw for 1,603 yards with 11 touchdowns opposite eight picks on 241 passes (144 completions).
Burton told Yahoo the major draw for him was head coach Jeff Brohm‘s playbook. He reported interest from Colorado, Vanderbilt and Hawai’i in addition to Purdue.
“I really like how they mixed in both the spread and pro-style,” Burton said. “I loved the whole offense and the way they go about it.”
Burton leaves UCLA after losing the quarterback derby to Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Burton played in six games last fall, tossing 44 completions in 64 tries, good for 365 yards with a score and no picks. Burton also rushed 23 times for 100 yards and a score.
