Darian Mensah describes his emotions of facing former school Tulane at Duke

Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah broke out for the Green Wave in his first season as the starting quarterback in 2024. He threw for 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

After sitting out of Tulane’s Gasparilla Bowl matchup against Florida, Mensah entered the Transfer Portal this offseason and immediately became one of the highest sought-after players in the portal. He was projected to head to a National Championship contender, but surprisingly ended up at Duke.

Duke, fresh off a 9-4 campaign in the first season under head coach Manny Diaz, will face Mensah’s former team on September 13 in New Orleans. Mensah discussed facing the Green Wave this season at ACC Media Days.

“Those are my guys over there,” Mensah said. “I’m excited for that. Just being with the guys — I feel like Tulane was one of the hardest parts of my life. I’m a momma’s boy and moving across the country was something that wasn’t easy for me. Ever since then, I feel I’ve been hunting challenges because that’s where you grow. So I’m excited for that matchup and this year they’ve got a talented squad. But I’m just gonna approach it like any other game.”

Mensah has always dreamed of playing at this level

Mensah will be taking over the Duke quarterback job from Maalik Murphy, who passed for 2,363 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season. Murphy transferred to Oregon State this offseason, marking his third program in three seasons (started at Texas).

“It’s been my dream to play power-five football since I was a little kid,” he continued. “That was something I wanted to do for sure. But it’s definitely not easy getting to a new team when you had an old team before. And now I’m moving to a new place I’m not familiar with. But I’m excited for those challenges because I know that’s where I’m going to elevate my game and my teammates as well.”

The 2025 season for the Blue Devils is one of the most anticipated in program history. Duke has won at least eight games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2013-15 and is creeping closer and closer to being a legitimate threat to contend for an ACC Championship.

Mensah and the Blue Devils open this season at home against Elon before hosting what could be a top-15 Illinois program on Sept. 6. Duke then travels to Tulane on Sept. 13, setting up Mensah’s homecoming game.