Purdue defense faces first big test in Wake Forest

Friday night's season opener was a feeling-out process for Purdue's defense. The Boilermakers trotted out seven new starters for Kevin Kane's unit, including Mister Clark, Don Saunders, Jojo Hayden, Jaden Mangham, John Slaughter, Curt Neal, and Keyshawn Burgos. That was in addition to several other contributors like Justin Denson, Elo Modozie, Rodney Lora, Hudson Miller, Jeremy Lewis, and others who saw snaps. 'I have to look at the numbers, but how many new faces are on this defense? The first time playing a real live game together, kind of getting the feel for this is kind of how you're rolling. You can practice it as much as you want, but you don't really know until you get out there. I think those guys will continue to gel as they play more football together,' Kane said. Purdue held Indiana State's offense to six points through three quarters before former Boilermaker quarterback Brady Allen entered the game and connected on two deep balls: one a 45-yard touchdown strike to Jayden Reed and the other a 55-yard bomb to Thomas Amankwaa that would set up another score for the Sycamores. Those two plays came well after the game had been decided, as Purdue still coasted to a 44-19 win to kick off the 2026 campaign. In closer games, the defense can't afford those kinds of mistakes, according to Barry Odom. 'I don't think our focus was there the way it needed to be. You know, so that comes now experienced. Fortunately, we had a lead that it didn't end up costing us a game, but good teams, good defenses, it doesn't matter the score, doesn't matter the opponent. You go finish the game the way you should. So that would be a learning experience for guys, and they get it. They know that wasn't the standard of how you go finish a game,' Odom said. 'My belief on that is they're certainly always looking to improve. I think we'll be a lot better week two than we were week one in that area, and that's tackling, that's all the things that go along with playing live football for the first time as a group,' Odom said. Kane chalks up the big plays to a lack of eye discipline and not executing, two things he knows if they did, those plays would not have happened. 'I think if we go back and look at the film, why those happened, it's simple fixes in terms of eyes, execution of the job. I think if we have better eyes and better execution, obviously we're in a better position to make plays and do better jobs of that,' Kane said. Limiting explosive plays is going to be among the biggest keys to victory for the Boilermakers as a bigger test awaits on Saturday, Wake Forest, who is led by standout quarterback Gio Lopez. Lopez and the Demon Deacons are coming off a 38-16 win over Akron, in which Lopez threw for 350 yards, while the ground game picked up another 200+ yards in the victory. The aerial attack was headlined by receivers Carlos Hernandez, who had five catches for 165 yards and a score, and Antonio Meeks, who posted a line of three catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Both pass catchers had touchdowns of 70+ yards as Wake Forest is one of three offenses with two plays of 70 or more yards so far this season. Running back Ty Clark III also added a 57-yard rush for good measure. Purdue wants to limit those big plays at its expense, and it's going to get a significant test in its quest to do so on Saturday afternoon in Ross-Ade Stadium. 'That's how offenses score nowadays, right? You got to limit explosives,' Kane said. 'They want explosive chunk plays, and I think their wide receiver skill, their group is a good wide receivers group. So we've got to continue to keep everything in front of us. I think they do a great job in terms of their scheme matches their personnel very well,' Kane said. Wake Forest poses a good litmus test to see just where Purdue's defense is heading into the meat of its schedule, featuring a trip to UCLA and a clash with No. 4 Notre Dame before heading into the thick of the Big Ten slate. Kane sees similarities between Purdue's offense, which his unit has been going against since the spring, and the one they'll see this weekend. 'It's very similar to our offense in terms of how we operate. So we've gotten a lot of looks at it throughout the course of fall camp, and hopefully there's some carryover in terms of what that looks like for our guys,' Kane said.