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Purdue left tackle Joey Tanona missed the opener after an ankle injury late in fall camp; this preview leaves his return unresolved and says Barry Odom has avoided injury details. Nuku Mafi started at left tackle, with Brock Brownfield at left guard, Boaz Stanley at center, Micah Banuelos at right guard and Jude McCoskey at right tackle. A Tanona-driven lineup change is conditional, not announced.
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Purdue QB Ryan Browne completed 23-of-29 passes for 317 yards and three touchdowns against Indiana State, finding Chauncey Magwood, Tra'Mar Harris and Asaad Waseem for scores. The writer links that efficient opener to encouraging spring/fall-camp reports but treats Wake Forest as the first Power Four test of whether it carries over.
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The writer identifies Fame Ijeboi as Purdue's leading back after 87 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, plus two catches for 30 yards. Travis Terrell Jr. also had 11 carries; Jerrick Gibson and Antonio Harris had six apiece. Purdue's team rushing line was 177 yards on 40 attempts, so Ijeboi's production exceeded the rest of the opening rotation.
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Purdue had nine penalties for 85 yards. A Jaylan Hornsby hold erased Ijeboi's 63-yard touchdown run, and consecutive red-zone false starts by Banuelos and Stanley contributed to settling for a short field goal. The article reports Odom's frustration after the game and at Monday's presser; these were concrete drive-finishing problems, not just a generic discipline concern.
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Purdue's defense produced eight tackles for loss, three sacks and Don Saunders' 35-yard interception-return touchdown against Indiana State. The writer describes greater second-half aggression under new DC Kevin Kane and contrasts it with only five takeaways in all of 2025. That opener supports an improvement watch, not a confirmed season-long turnover rate.