WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Ticker) -- After losing to a less-heralded opponent, Purdue used a big defensive effort in a 16-10 victory over No. 21 Wake Forest.
Kyle Orton passed for 277 yards and a touchdown and Ben Jones kicked three field goals for Purdue (1-1), which allowed 407 total yards in a demoralizing 27-26 season-opening loss to Bowling Green.
The defense was decidedly better for the Boilermakers as they limited Wake Forest (2-1) to 56 rushing yards.
"From the Purdue prospective it was nice to win a football game late like that," Boilermakers coach Joe Tiller said. "I thought it was a heck of a football game. Surpisingly, I thought we made more mistakes today than we did last week, but for the most part they were effort mistakes."
The Demon Deacons moved back into the rankings for the first time since January 1993 after surprising then-No. 11 North Carolina State, 38-24, last week. They were in position to take the lead after cornerback Riley Swanson recovered a fumbled punt return by Anthony Chambers at the Purdue 25-yard line with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter.
"Like I said, we made a lot of mistakes, the classic example, not calling the fair catch on that fumble," Tiller added. "But really, that is a coaching mistake. We had trouble finding him on the sideline, No. 1, and No. 2, we should have sent him on the field with fair catch instructions. But it turned out OK so we can chalk it up as another learning experience."
After Wake Forest was penalized on their first two plays after the turnover, Cory Randolph completed consecutive passes for 21 yards and Chris Barclay rushed for two yards on third down. But on 4th-and-1 with 71 seconds left, safety Stuart Schweigert blitzed untouched and stopped Barclay for a three-yard loss.
The only scoring in the second half was a 38-yard field goal by Jones 3:01 into the fourth. Jones gave the Boilermakers the lead for good with a 41-yard field goal 28 seconds before the break. It was the longest field goal for Purdue since Travis Dorsch kicked a 51-yarder in the 2001 Sun Bowl.
The 57 rushing yards were the lowest for the Demon Deacons under coach Jim Grobe, who is in his third season. While the Boilermakers contained Wake Forest's running game, Jerod Void and Jerome Brooks combined for 128 yards on 28 rushes.
"We feel that zone handoff is our best play," Grobe said. "If they can stop us from getting one yard then they deserve to win the game. I think we gave our best effort, but we did not play our best. The first week the guys exceeded my expectations, but this is what you can expect from a young team."
Randolph completed 18-of-31 passes for 188 yards and an interception as Wake Forest fell to 1-4 all time against Purdue. The interception was returned 38 yards by Schweigert and set up Jones' 27-yard field goal that gave Purdue a 3-0 lead 3:13 into the contest.
Wake Forest tied the game on its next possession when Ryan Plackmeier capped a 16-play, 60-yard drive with a 37-yard field goal with 6:22 left in the opening quarter.
The Boilermakers regained the lead eight seconds into the second quarter, when Orton hooked up with Taylor Stubblefield for a seven-yard TD reception.
Nick Burney capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a one-yard plunge to tie the score, 10-10, with 10:43 left in the second quarter. Barclay gained 22 yards on three carries during the drive. He finished with 26 yards on 19 rushes.
