Purdue and Wake Forest both enter Week 2 at 1-0, and that sets up a first real test for the Boilermakers in Ross Ade Stadium.
Purdue opened the season with a 44-19 win over FCS opponent Indiana State, and the game turned late in the third quarter when the Boilermakers ripped off a 21-0 run to put things away. Indiana State added 13 garbage-time points after that.
Wake Forest’s opener looked similar on the scoreboard in a different way, with the Demon Deacons beating Akron 38-16 at home Saturday. Akron also scored 13 points in garbage time to make the final look a little tighter and cover the spread.
Now the two Power Four teams meet with both programs trying to show something early. Wake Forest is in year 2 under coach Jake Dickert and is looking to take the next step. Purdue, meanwhile, is trying to move beyond the shadow of recent seasons, and this matchup gives the Boilermakers a useful measuring stick.
The market has Wake Forest favored by 4.5 points, according to FanDuel. As of Sunday evening, the Demon Deacons were listed at -194 on the moneyline and -106 against the spread.
Purdue was +160 to win outright and -114 to cover. The total is set at 49.5 points.
There’s also more background already in place on the matchup, including an offseason look at Wake Forest and a Boiler Alert episode previewing the game. More coverage is expected as the week goes on, with Purdue’s first big challenge of the season now in focus.
In Other News...
Purdue Gets Pulled Into A Big Ten Officiating Debate Fans Hate
A messy finish in the Big Ten has spilled into the broader conference conversation, and Purdue found itself in the middle of it through Barry Odom's reaction. After officials reviewed the final sequence in Western Michigan's game with Michigan and put one second back on the clock, the Wolverines got a chance to win it with a touchdown, a ruling the league later stood behind as part of its standard process.
Odom said he was caught off guard by the idea that the conference operates with an official clock beyond what fans see in the stadium. Even so, the Purdue coach stopped short of turning it into a larger complaint, expressing confidence in the Big Ten's leadership and in the officiating process, even as the episode fed the kind of frustration that always seems to trail close calls in this league. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Odom Sees One Early Sign Purdue Fans Will Care About
Barry Odom walked into his Week 2 press conference with Purdue sitting at 1-0 and a bigger test ahead against Wake Forest, but his attention still leaned back to what the Boilermakers showed in the opener. He talked through the slow start from the previous game, the kind of early stretch that can shape how a teams next week feels, and pointed to leadership emerging from within the locker room as part of why the response mattered as much as the result.
Hudauri Hines was part of that conversation, along with Fame Ijeobis work at running back, and Odom also weighed in on the controversial finish to another Big Ten game while looking ahead to clearer defensive growth this week. For Purdue, the encouraging sign is not just that the coach believes the team can tighten things up, but that some of the correction seems to be happening from the inside, where players are already taking ownership of what the next step needs to look like. [Read more 🡒]
Purdues Goal Line Approach Already Gives Fans Something To Debate
Purdues season opener offered plenty to like in a 44-19 win over Indiana State, especially once the offense got near the stripe. The Boilermakers were efficient in scoring territory, turning every red-zone trip into points and showing the kind of sharp finishing that usually travels well as the schedule toughens.
Even with the production, the conversation already has a familiar fall theme to it: how much creativity is too much when the ball is sitting close to the goal line. Some of the play-calling choices near the end zone raised eyebrows, and there is a growing sense that getting Ijeboi more involved inside the 20-yard line could make Purdue even harder to defend when the field gets compressed. [Read more 🡒]