The Duke football program will hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday, as the Blue Devils will head to New Orleans to take on Tulane. Not only is it a huge bounce-back opportunity for Duke after a disappointing home loss against No. 9 Illinois last weekend, but it's also Duke quarterback Darian Mensah's former school. Mensah spent two seasons with the Green Wave before transferring to Durham this past offseason. Mensah's former head coach has given nothing but praise to Duke's new signal caller, and this college football writer is predicting a monster game from the redshirt sophomore against his former school.
College football writer predicting Darian Mensah to go off against Tulane
Despite the decisive loss to the Fighting Illini last weekend, Mensah has looked promising the majority of the time he's been on the field. He's currently the nation's fourth-leading passer with 723 yards in the air through his first two games, to go along with five touchdowns to one interception. The Athletic's Manny Navarro is now predicting Mensah to absolutely go off this Saturday.
"Darian Mensah returns to his old stomping grounds at Tulane as the nation’s second-leading passer," Navarro wrote. "Duke faded last week in the fourth quarter at home against Illinois despite 334 passing yards and two touchdowns from Mensah. Tulane, meanwhile, survived a 33-31 shootout at South Alabama. Mensah throws for 400-plus and three touchdowns, and Duke (plus-1.5) pulls off the road upset."
The betting lines for this contest have continued to shift throughout the week. Duke entered the week as 2.5-point underdogs according to FanDuel, then the line shifted to Duke as 1.5-point favorites, then the line once again moved in favor of the Green Wave. Regardless, the Blue Devils desperately need to find a way to pull out a victory and avoid starting the 2025 campaign 1-2.
Manny Diaz and his group entered this season with legitimate College Football Playoff aspirations. After the loss to the Fighting Illini, Duke will likely need to win out for the remainder of the regular season to have any hope. That starts with a big win on the road against Mensah's former team.