Darian Mensah knows that he has a long season ahead, but few games will be more important to him than the one that lies ahead in Week 3. The Duke quarterback will be placed under the spotlight when he leads the Blue Devils on the road against Tulane, his former college football team.
Mensah was a revelation for the Green Wave in 2024, when he burst onto the scene as a freshman to nearly lead them to an American Athletic Conference title. However, he entered the college football transfer portal at the end of the season and immediately committed to Duke.
Now returning to Yulman Stadium for the first time as an opponent, Mensah admitted that he feels “a little bit weird” about the situation.
“Yeah, I'll probably be the opposite of a fan favorite this week,” Mensah said, via ESPN. “It's definitely going to be a little bit weird going over there with my old team.”
Mensah is off to a hot start with Duke, racking up an ACC-leading 723 passing yards in his first two games of the 2025 college football season. He has five touchdowns in that frame with just one interception.
However, Mensah's elite production has not consistently produced results. Duke dusted Elon 45-17 in Week 1, but suffered a 45-19 loss to Illinois in Week 2 despite entering the game as three-point underdogs.
Duke quarterback Darian Mensah's emotional return to Tulane
While Mensah believes the Tulane crowd will shower him with boos, there is no animosity between him and his former coaching staff. Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall, who arrived in New Orleans at the same time as Mensah, said he still “loves Darian to death.”
Although Tulane certainly wanted Mensah back, they are not struggling at quarterback. Sumrall added former Northwestern and Iowa starter Brendan Sullivan, along with 2024 MAC Freshman of the Year Kadin Semonza, immediately after Mensah departed. The Green Wave's biggest addition came late in the offseason, when ex-BYU starter Jake Retzlaff joined them from the transfer portal.
Mensah was not the only key player to transfer — star running back Makhi Hughes also left for Oregon — but he was the most significant. It remains to be seen whether fans appreciate his brief contributions and share Sumrall's feelings, or if Mensah's prediction will come true.
