Blue Devils can catch their breath as Hurricanes grow more desperate for Darian Mensah

What a whirlwind the Darian Mensah transfer saga has turned into over the last few days. Other than the fact that he abandoned ship with just a few hours until the transfer window closed, Duke is now suing Mensah in an attempt to keep him in Durham.

In a latest turn, the presiding court ruled that while Mensah is allowed to enter the transfer portal, he isn't allowed to enroll anywhere else, play football for anyone else, or make any NIL money other than for the Duke Blue Devils.

Simply put, Mensah is stuck at Duke, for now, and the Miami Hurricanes (the team he would most likely join if he can ever figure out how to actually transfer from Duke) are hitting desperation hour for their next QB1.

Miami Hurricanes are rapidly running out of QB1 options

If Mensah is legally allowed to play for Miami, then the Hurricanes are going to be just fine, but if he is still suiting up for Manny Diaz and the Blue Devils, the Canes might be a little screwed in 2026.

With Miami's current QB1, Carson Beck, undoubtedly heading to the NFL Draft, the Hurricanes and head coach Mario Cristobal have once again been searching for a new starting quarterback out of the transfer portal.

When all options of QBs who had already entered the portal were exhausted, the Canes started targeting Mensah, which worked rather quickly. Now, the drama has unfolded in Durham, and Mensah isn't quite as locked down for Miami as Cristobal would hope.

Not to mention, just a few moments before the initial court ruling on Mensah's case was released, the Hurricanes' backup quarterback Emory Williams committed to East Carolina, officially punching his ticket to get out of Miami.

Simply put, with the legal win (whether it's temporary or not), the Blue Devils can take a deep breath, for now. Meanwhile, the Hurricanes are having to figure out Plan B, or maybe it's Plan Z by now.