Thursday August 21st, 2025 2:21PM

Wake Forest stuns Purdue on road

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WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA - Wake Forest&#39;s defense jarred the football free, scooped up loose balls and picked off the quarterback. The takeaways helped the Demon Deacons accomplish a rare feat - a victory by an unranked team at Ross-Ade Stadium. <br> <br> Chris Barclay ran for three touchdowns and Wake Forest capitalized on five Purdue turnovers to beat the Boilermakers 24-21 Saturday. <br> <br> The Demon Deacons (2-2) became only the second unranked team to win here since Purdue coach Joe Tiller took over in 1997. The Boilermakers are now 21-2 at home against unranked opponents during that span. <br> <br> Wake Forest did it with a defense that entered with a plus-8 turnover margin. <br> <br> The Demon Deacons added to that total against the Boilermakers (2-2), who lost four fumbles and an interception. Wake Forest scored 10 points off those takeaways, and five different players came up with turnovers. <br> <br> ``I think our guys are a work in progress,&#39;&#39; Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. ``We have not arrived defensively. Hopefully, we&#39;ll continue that. I think that&#39;s the only chance we had today.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The defense did allow 477 yards of total offense, and Purdue had its chances with three drives into Wake Forest territory in the fourth. But Berin Lacevic missed field-goal attempts of 46, 40 and 44 yards in the quarter. <br> <br> The 44-yard miss came with 21 seconds left in the game. All three attempts were wide left. <br> <br> ``I just blame myself. I lost this game for us,&#39;&#39; Lacevic said. <br> <br> The game should not have been decided on the field-goal attempts, Tiller said. <br> <br> ``When we turn the ball over as many times as we did, it&#39;s hard to pull ourselves out of that hole,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Twice in the first half, the Boilermakers turned the ball over inside Wake Forest&#39;s 10-yard line: once on an interception by Kyle Orton, and again on a fumble by Joey Harris, both at the 6. <br> <br> ``I&#39;m just sick about those turnovers in the red zone,&#39;&#39; Tiller said. ``If there&#39;s one thing that gets under my craw more than anything else, it&#39;s turning the ball over when you&#39;re going into score. That took points off the board.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Wake Forest didn&#39;t score off those turnovers, but converted two others into scores. The first came off wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield&#39;s fumble late in the second quarter, leading to Barclay&#39;s second touchdown of the quarter and a 14-7 lead. <br> <br> In the third, Wake Forest got a 41-yard field goal from Matt Wisnosky after running back Montrell Lowe&#39;s fumble. <br> <br> The Demon Deacons held on to win their first road game in three tries this year. <br> <br> ``It is so hard to go on the road as many times as we&#39;ve done,&#39;&#39; Grobe said. ``I think a lot of teams would have folded their tents.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Wake Forest controlled the tempo with its running game, rushing 69 times for 248 yards. Five players ran for over 30 yards, led by 70 from Barclay. <br> <br> Barclay was used sporadically in the first three games, carrying the ball only 18 times with no touchdowns. But he got the carries inside Purdue&#39;s 20 and had TD runs of 18, 11 and 5 yards. They were the first touchdowns of his career. <br> <br> ``The holes were there,&#39;&#39; Barclay said. ``The line did an excellent job and I just tried to take advantage.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Wake Forest&#39;s James MacPherson was 9-for-12 for 120 yards. <br> <br> For Purdue, Orton threw TD passes of 51 and 74 yards to John Standeford and a 13-yarder to Anthony Chambers. Standeford had six catches for a career-high 191 yards - the third straight game he&#39;s topped 100 yards. <br> <br> Orton went 24-for-43 for 331 yards and an interception, and Harris ran for 119 yards. <br> <br> Stubblefield, Purdue&#39;s leading receiver last year, returned to the lineup for the first time this season after being cleared to play Friday. After missing three games with a head injury, Stubblefield finished with seven catches for 58 yards. <br> <br> The Boilermakers are now 3-1 against the Demon Deacons. Saturday&#39;s game was the first between the schools since 1978.
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