Wake Forest and Purdue haven’t crossed paths on the football field in a long time. The last meeting came all the way back in 2003, when future NFL quarterback Kyle Orton and future ACC Player of the Year Chris Barclay were on opposite sides. With the Deacs set to face the Boilermakers again on Saturday, Andrew Ledman of Hammer and Rails helped size up where Purdue stands right now.
One of the biggest questions around the Boilermakers is quarterback Ryan Browne, who nearly would have been on the other sideline last season at UNC before transferring back to Purdue when current Wake Forest QB Gio Lopez signed with the Heels. Purdue fans, Ledman said, weren’t thrilled that head coach Barry Odom didn’t bring in a challenger for the starting job.
Browne “didn’t have a stellar year” in 2024, and the lack of help around him didn’t make things easier. The offensive line was especially rough, and he spent plenty of snaps “running for his life.”
Even so, Ledman thinks Purdue still hasn’t fully seen what Browne can do. The concerns are real - he can stare down receivers and overthrow the ball - but he also has more around him this season.
The transfer class is already making its presence felt. Fame Ijeboi, pronounced E-G-Boy, arrived from Minnesota and made an immediate impression in Purdue’s Week 1 game.
Ledman called him the best running back on the roster right now. Another newcomer worth watching is offensive lineman Boaz Stanley, who previously played at South Carolina and Troy.
At 6-foot-4 and around 310 pounds, he gives Purdue the size it was looking for up front.
Ijeboi was also the player who surprised Ledman the most in the opener against Indiana State. He saw enough to come away impressed with the back’s speed, patience and field vision, describing him as “the complete package.” In his view, Ijeboi can take pressure off the rest of Purdue’s offense.
That matters for a program trying to climb out of a rough stretch. Purdue went 2-10 last season, but Ledman said the record hid the fact that the Boilermakers were in a lot of games.
They hung around against Notre Dame for a while before the game got away, and they also had real chances against Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan. Still, close losses don’t change the standings, and Purdue couldn’t finish.
Asked why the slide has been so severe - including back-to-back 0-9 seasons in Big Ten play and just one FBS win over the last two years - Ledman didn’t sugarcoat it. The easy answer, he said, is Ryan Walters, whom he described as a terrible coach who wasn’t ready for a head job and set the program back multiple years.
The tougher truth is that Purdue hasn’t kept up with the NIL and transfer portal era. In his words, teams need multimillion dollar rosters, and Purdue hasn’t invested at that level.
He also pointed to the reality that football sits second to the men’s basketball program in the state of Indiana.
That puts pressure on Odom quickly. If Purdue only wins two games, Ledman said Odom would be on the hot seat.
He acknowledged that Odom inherited a bad situation, but also noted that the Boilermakers just hired a new athletic director who officially takes over January 1st and will probably want to make his own mark. That kind of transition, Ledman said, can be bad news for a coach hired by the previous regime.
As for expectations this season, the outlook isn’t exactly rosy. Ledman said most people are looking at three to four wins, and even with an easier schedule, it still includes a Big Ten slate and Notre Dame in nonconference play.
That’s before adding two more nonconference games. “That’s no slight on Wake Forest mind you,” he added.
If Purdue wants a shot at pulling off the upset, the formula is clear. Browne has to deliver his best game.
Linebacker Charles Correa needs to be strong in the middle. And more than anything, the offensive line has to play much better in pass protection and in the run game.
On defense, Purdue’s secondary has to do a better job than it did against former Boilermaker Brady Allen in garbage time.
Even with the optimism he tries to carry elsewhere, Ledman couldn’t talk himself into a Purdue win after what he saw against Indiana State. His pick: Wake Forest 35, Purdue 28. “Would love to be wrong though.”
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Wake Forest Already Has Two Transfers Fans Need To Watch
Wake Forest got an immediate boost from two newcomers in its win over Akron, and both sides of the ball had transfer additions making their presence felt. Linebacker Vinny Frienze led the team in tackles, forced a fumble and was recognized as the ACC Linebacker of the Week, while quarterback Gio Lopez delivered a sharp passing day that earned him the Manning Award Star of the Week.
For a program looking to build momentum early, those kinds of debut-level impact performances matter because they hint at real staying power, not just one good afternoon. Frienze's activity in the middle of the defense and Lopez's comfort running the offense gave Wake Forest a pair of players worth tracking closely as the season moves forward, and each seemed positioned to keep carving out a larger role. [Read more 🡒]
Wake Forest Must Figure Out Purdues New-Look Offensive Threats
Purdue opened its season with a win over Indiana State under new head coach Barry Odom, but the bigger story for Wake Forest is what the Boilermakers look like now after a major roster overhaul. The offense has been reshaped by departures at key spots and a wave of transfer additions, giving this matchup an unfamiliar cast and a different feel from what Wake Forest might have expected heading into the week.
The early evidence points to a passing game leaning on new receivers Xavier Townsend and Asaad Waseem, while running back Fame Ijeboi made a noticeable impact in the opener. For a Wake Forest defense trying to get ready on a short turnaround, the challenge is less about the old Purdue and more about sorting out how quickly this new group can settle in and where the biggest threats might come from once the game begins. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Opens A Telling Early Test Against A Surging Wake Forest
Wake Forest heads to West Lafayette on Saturday with a little early-season momentum and a rare opportunity to measure itself against Purdue in a series that has barely existed for nearly a generation. For Jake Dickert, it is also another chance to see how quickly his group is settling in after a strong opening week, with the Demon Deacons carrying themselves like a team that expects to travel well and play with some edge.
Much of the attention, naturally, will land on quarterback Gio Lopez after his first start gave Wake Forest the kind of clean, productive performance every coach wants to build on. The matchup adds a layer of intrigue because the programs have only met five times before, and Wake Forest is still chasing just its second win in the series, which gives this early test a little extra weight even before the deeper questions of September really start to form. [Read more 🡒]