WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After overcoming a late 10-point deficit and forcing double overtime, the Purdue football team suffered its first loss of the season to Wake Forest, 38-36, on Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium.
Led by quarterback Ryan Browne and running back Fame Ijeboi, both of whom set multiple career bests, the Boilermakers (1-1, 0-0 B1G) outgained the Demon Deacons (2-0, 0-0 ACC), 455 yards to 411. Browne posted career highs in passing yards (329) and completions (32-of-42), hitting 76.2% for the second-highest completion percentage of his career. Connecting with nine different targets, the junior from Clarkston, Michigan, surpassed 300 yards for the second time this season and the fifth time overall.
Ijeboi picked up where he left off after his dominant Purdue debut last week and shined once again. The Minnesota transfer set new personal bests in attempts (27), rushing yards (114), receiving yards (42) and touchdowns (3). Ijeboi became the first Boilermaker to score three rushing touchdowns in a game since D.J. Knox in the historic Tyler Trent Game, when Purdue upset No. 2 Ohio State, 49-20, on Oct. 20, 2018.
Off to one of the hottest starts in team history, Ijeboi is the first running back to score four touchdowns in his first two games as a Boilermaker since at least 1995. He’s also the first Boiler to total more than 200 rushing yards in the first two games of a season since Ralph Bolden in 2009.
The Boilers started fast on the opening possession, engineering an eight-play, 75-yard drive to go up 7-0. Wake Forest came back to build a 17-7 lead before Purdue answered with a field goal to cut the deficit to seven heading into halftime.
The Deacons’ lead ballooned to 23-13 with 9:13 left in the fourth quarter. Purdue then recorded a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, followed by a quick defensive three-and-out and an 11-play drive that ended in a Jacobo Echeverria Lozano field goal to tie the game as regulation expired.
The Deacons were on offense to start the first overtime and scored a touchdown in just two plays. On fourth down and needing a touchdown to extend the game, the Boilers responded with a 9-yard reception by De’Nylon Morrissette, his third touchdown as a Boilermaker and first of the season, to force a second overtime.
Purdue converted again with a 3-yard rushing score by Ijeboi but failed on the required two-point try. Needing a touchdown, the Deacons were forced into a 4th-and-15 with the game on the line, but a clutch pass from quarterback Gio Lopez gave them a fresh set of downs at the 2-yard line. The initial call was that the receiver was short of the first down marker, which would have ended the game, but replay review determined that he reached the 2-yard line for a first down. Lopez then rushed in for the tying touchdown and converted the game-winning 2-point play on another keeper.
Jeremy Lewis led the defensive side of the ball with 1.5 sacks and added an additional tackle-for-loss. His half-sack was combined with Curt Neal during the second overtime. Charles Correa paced the Boilers with 12 tackles for the sixth double-digit tackling game of his career. Jojo Hayden and John Slaughter, both with a career-high nine tackles, followed Correa and added a 0.5 tackle-for-loss each.
Purdue fans showed up 50,363 strong for the first Saturday game of the season.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers open Big Ten Conference play with their first road game next Saturday, Sept. 19, at UCLA. It will be a late night for Purdue fans watching back home, with kickoff set for 11 p.m. ET at the iconic Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The broadcast will be on Big Ten Network.
Purdue returns home the following week to host Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium with the Shillelagh Trophy on the line.
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