Gio Lopez’s Heart Saves Wake Forest, 38-36

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Sometimes you need fundamentals to win. Sometimes you need skill. Sometimes you need Gio Lopez’s heart. The transfer quarterback, operating with a bit of a limp late in the game, scored the tying touchdown in double overtime and scored again on the mandatory two-point conversion to give Wake Forest the 38-36 win at Purdue.

The game went from comfortably in Wake Forest’s favor in the first three quarters to perilously close to letting one slip away for the Demon Deacons. The era of instant replay played kindly in the Deacs’ hands as well.

Gio Lopez’s Heart Saves Wake Forest

Lopez started hot early, struggled a little down the stretch, but was the deciding factor at the end. He was 16 of 27 passing for 225 yards and one touchdown. He added 59 yards on the ground on 13 rushes, and he had another two touchdowns. But it was the last touchdown and the conversion that will be remembered and celebrated most

Wake faced its first deficit of the season when Purdue went 75 yards on eight plays for a 7-0 lead on its first drive. A facemask call on defensive lineman Kadear Dembele punctuated the drive. Isolated unto itself, it would seem innocuous. But Wake was called for facemask penalties three times during the game, and in some instances they extended Purdue drives when the Deacs had the Boilermakers otherwise stopped.

The Deacs responded in kind with a balanced offensive attack. Ty Clark III picked up a dozen net rushing yards on the drive and finished the push when he bulled his way up the middle from four yards out for the touchdown. Wake had gone 73 yards in a little over five minutes to tie the score at 7-7.

Early Balance

The run game was big for Wake throughout, racking up 186 yards and more than four yards per carry. Lopez had his rushing yards. Redshirt freshman Drayden Dickman had 44 yards on an end-around carry late in the game. Freshman Deuce Lawrence added 45 yards, and Clark finished the game with 36 yards.

Purdue got in one more drive in the first quarter, but Jacobo Echeverria Lozano missed a 49-yard field goal. With the game ending the way it did, that goes into the “what if” category for Purdue head coach Barry Odom.

Wake had a scoring drive early in the second quarter. But Lopez overthrew tight end Dom Barry in the back of the end zone. The 6’-3” freshman would have had to be about 6’-8” to bring it in. The Deacs settled for a 29-yard Connor Calvert field goal for the 10-7 lead.

Early Wake Forest Control

After some solid Wake defense shut Purdue down, the Deacs went 76 yards in 10 plays. On third and goal from the one-yard line, Lopez sprinted to the right corner for the touchdown. After being down 7-0, Wake Forest had scored 17 straight points and looked in control.

Purdue threatened at the end of the half. The Deacs, all of a sudden, had Purdue receivers bouncing out of tackles to get yards after the catch. The Boilermakers got all the way down to the four-yard line. But with the clock running, they had to go to the air, and quarterback Ryan Browne had two passes caught, but they were both out of bounds. They settled for a 22-yard field goal, and Wake had a 17-10 halftime lead.

Calvert converted on a 23-yard field goal on the opening drive of the second half. Wake was up 20-10 and had scored on each of its first four drives.

With the help of another facemask call on Wake (Dallas Afalava), Purdue made its way down to the Wake Forest 12-yard line. But on third down, Browne threw behind an open receiver, Chauncey Magwood. The Boilermakers settled for another field goal to make it 20-13 Wake.

It stayed that way well into the fourth quarter. The Deacs had to start a drive at their own one-yard line. A couple of Clark runs and a Lopez scramble got them out to the 16-yard line. That is when offensive coordinator Rob Ezell went deep into the playbook and called the end around for Dickman. Purdue also got called for a facemask penalty, giving Wake 59 yards total on the play.

Wake settled for a 44-yard field goal from Calvert to put the lead back up to 10 points at 23-13.

Purdue Offense Gets Hot; Wake Defense Cools

But Browne got a hot hand for Purdue. He completed six straight passes to get the Boilermakers to the Wake Forest seven-yard line. From there, Fame Ijeboi ran it straight up the middle for the touchdown, and the Wake lead was down to 23-20. It also started to show some vulnerabilities in the Wake Forest defense. Browne was finding wide-open receivers, and Ijeboi was not going down on first contact.

Browne would finish the game 32 of 42 passing for 329 yards and a touchdown. Ijeboi ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns.

Wake was clinging to the three-point lead, but there was only 3:53 left on the clock when the Deacs took over on offense.

Being Aggressive Doesn’t Pay Off

Surprisingly, Ezell chose to go to the air. Kam Shanks dropped two passes, and Lopez threw a pass well over the head of Antonio Meeks. Wake Forest was punting the ball back over to Purdue and had burned only 13 seconds off the clock. The words of Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert from last week that “Winning can be an illusion” started to feel real.

After the game, Dickert did not step back from going to the air three straight times in that situation. “We were going to play to win the game,” he said. “We’re not going to sit on the ball. I felt the momentum of the game shifting. I told Rob [Ezell], go be aggressive. Go win it. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”

It didn’t in this case. Purdue kicked a game-tying 21-yard field goal with three seconds left to send the game into overtime at 23-23.

Overtime and the Replay Booth

In the first overtime, after a one-yard Clark run, Lopez rolled to his left and connected with Bryce Kania on a 24-yard pass into the end zone for the touchdown. With the PAT it was a 30-23 lead for Wake.

It took Purdue six plays to score, but score it did. On fourth and goal, Browne completed the pass into the end zone from nine yards out to De’Nylon Morrissette. The PAT sent the game into a second overtime at 30-30.

Purdue had the ball to start the second overtime. Ijeboi ended a seven-play drive by running it in from the right from three yards out for the touchdown. But having to go for the two-point conversion, Browne’s pass attempt was incomplete, so the Purdue lead, its first since the first drive, was 36-30.

Wake’s response hung on the replay booth. On fourth and 15 from the Purdue 17-yard line, Lopez connected with Hernandez along the right sideline. He needed to get to the two-yard line for the first down. The officials called him out of bounds half a yard short of that. The replay undeniably confirmed that Hernandez had gotten to the two-yard line before being knocked out.

Lopez lost a yard on the next play. But then he delivered with a three-yard run up the middle for the touchdown to tie the game. On the next play, there was no doubt as to who was taking the game into their hands. Lopez sprinted to the right for the successful two-point conversion and the win.

After the game, Dickert said of his new quarterback, “We’ve got an absolute big-time quarterback. Facts.” He called Lopez an “ultimate competitor.”

The Last Word

The win was necessary in some ways. Life gets tougher for Wake Forest now. The Deacs have a Friday night game at home against Miami coming up, and then they travel to Louisville the week after that.

Last Word will have more post-game coverage of the win over Purdue, including post-game interviews, on Sunday.

Main Image: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

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