Wake Forest edges Purdue 38-36 in double overtime

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez ran for a 3-yard touchdown in double overtime, and he converted the two-point conversion to lift the Demon Deacons to a 38-36 victory over Purdue on Saturday.

The Boilermakers thought they stopped Wake Forest on fourth-and-15 when Carlos Hernandez was originally ruled short of the first down after a catch, but it was overturned and Lopez scored two plays later.

“I didn't want to let the team down, so I just tried to go score that thing.” Lopez said of the conversion run.

Lopez completed 16 of 27 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown and he ran for 59 yards and two touchdowns for Wake Forest (2-0).

“We have an absolute big-time quarterback,” Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said. “He’s fast. In the toughest moments, the biggest spot, he’s taking hits, doing whatever it takes to win, He’s ultimate competitor. We dominated the line of scrimmage on offense.”

Lopez said there are things to fix, but the mood naturally was upbeat.

“I missed some throws,” Lopez said. “We had some execution we could have done better. But you win an overtime game, there is nothing more exciting than that. Right now, we're enjoying the win and take it all in.”

Fame Ijeboi ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns for Purdue (1-1). The Boilermakers took a 36-30 lead on Ijeboi’s 3-yard TD run on the first possession of the second OT. The two-point conversion failed.

Bryce Kania caught a 24-yard pass from Lopez to put the Demon Deacons ahead 30-23 in the first overtime.

The Boilermakers came through on fourth down with Ryan Browne’s 9-yard TD pass to De’Nylon Morrissette.

Browne was 32 of 43 for a career-high 329 yards.

“He just keeps getting better and better,” Purdue coach Barry Odom said.

Purdue rallied from being 23-13 early in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Ijeboi’s 7-yard TD run narrowed Purdue’s deficit to 23-20 with 3:53 left. Purdue tied it with a 20-yard field goal by Jacobo Echeverria Lozano in the closing seconds of regulation.

Ijeboi scored from 14 yards out to give Purdue a 7-0 lead on the game’s opening possession. Wake Forest scored 17 consecutive points to take a 17-7 lead at halftime.

“He has the heart of a champion,” Odom said on Ijeboi. “He's going to have a monster season for us.”

Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons moved the ball for the first three-plus quarters but had to settle for three field goals. However, they were able to make the key plays when needed., Connor Calvert had three field goals of 39, 22 and 44 for Wake Forest.

Purdue: A strong fourth quarter seemingly put the Boilermakers in position to match their win total from last year, but they came up short “You lose a heartbreaker and a close one when you did all the work you did for it," Odom said. "The team is gutted a bit but we’ll bounce back.”

Wake Forest: Hosts Miami Friday.

Purdue: At UCLA next Saturday.

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