When Austin Appleby won the starting quarterback job at Purdue in 2014, it prompted Danny Etling to transfer to LSU.

When Appleby lost his starting job last year, he decided to join the Florida Gators as a graduate transfer.

After Brandon Harris was benched at LSU earlier this year and Luke Del Rio was injured for the Gators, Appleby and Etling took over their respective starting jobs.

Now, on Saturday, the former Boilermakers will square off when the Gators travel to Baton Rouge to take on the Tigers.

Following this weekend’s win over South Carolina, Appleby told The Advocate he’s looking forward to seeing Etling again:

“I’m a big Danny Etling fan and I wish him nothing but the best,” said Appleby, who has started several games for Florida this season after injuries to Luke Del Rio. “I’m sure [Etling would] probably say the same thing, we had a great relationship.”

Appleby added that he’s happy both players were able to leave the turmoil at Purdue behind and find opportunities for themselves:

“It’s definitely neat for us, just kind of our paths and how things didn’t go necessarily as we would’ve wanted them to go at Purdue,” Appleby said after leading the Gators to a win over South Carolina. “Nevertheless, how thankful we are and how fortunate we are that we’ve been able to find homes.

“It still hasn’t been easy. We’ve been able to get an opportunity and a chance to go play, and go play at a high level and have a chance to win a championship — both of us.”

LSU and Florida will square off at noon Central time. The game can be seen on the SEC Network.