What we learned about Duke football in a 34-27 road loss to Tulane
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff rushed for four TDs and led a 34-27 win.
- Duke's defense struggled against mobile QBs and misread offensive schemes.
- Special teams errors, including a blocked field goal, hampered Duke’s effort.
Duke’s Darian Mensah, as expected, heard some boos Saturday from Tulane fans.
Mensah also heard a lot of cheers — for Jake Retzlaff, his replacement at quarterback for the Green Wave.
Mensah, who left Tulane for Duke after the 2024 season, hoped to come back into Yulman Stadium and just “play ball.” And win. But Mensah and the Blue Devils suffered through a miserable first half, never led in the game and left New Orleans with a 34-27 loss.
Mensah undeniably was the top storyline for this game because of his high-priced transfer to Duke, but Retzlaff was the headliner with four touchdown runs and 356 yards in total offense. An 11th-hour transfer from BYU in July, the 6-1 senior quickly absorbed the Tulane offensive playbook and led the American Athletic Conference team to a quality victory over an experienced ACC team.
While Duke (1-2) stumbled and bumbled in the first half, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter and 24-9 at halftime, Retzlaff shined. He had touchdowns runs of 19, 6 and 20 yards as the Green Wave (3-0) took charge early and built a comfortable cushion.
Retzlaff added his fourth TD run in the second half with an 11-yard run to set a school record for a QB as the Green Wave thwarted any Duke comeback try. He had 245 yards passing, hitting 15 of 23 passes, and rushed for 111 yards.
“I just did my job,” Retzlaff said after the game.
Mensah, who led Tulane to the AAC championship game last season, finished 30-of-51 throwing for 313 yards and had touchdown throws to Sahmir Hagans, Landen King and Nate Sheppard. Mensah became the first Duke QB since Thaddeus Lewis in 2009 to pass for 300 or more yards in three straight games.
“That was difficult for him,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said of Mensah’s return. “Darian tried his best all week not to make it about him but that’s a really, really difficult thing to do.
“I thought Darian battled. I thought he played hard. It was difficult but I think he’ll learn a lot from this experience today.”
Retzlaff did lose the ball in the third quarter after a 23-yard run — Duke’s first forced turnover of the season. The Blue Devils made the most of it as Mensah found King open for a short score as Duke closed within 24-16 in the third quarter.
But Retzlaff responded by leading the Green Wave on a 75-yard scoring drive that he capped with his fourth TD.
“We let the quarterback dictate the game with his legs,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said. “They had us on our heels early in the game, and then any response that we made they were able to counter or match.
“The story for us is as disappointed as we are with the result, we’re arguably more disappointed in our performance. We played very poorly, in all three phases.. ... We just made mistakes that you can’t do on the road against a really good football team.”
What did Duke learn in the loss?
First road game was miserable
Coaches say you learn a lot about your football team in its first road game of the season — good, bad or indifferent.
Diaz could not have seen a lot of good in the first half. There’s no other way to put it. There were too many mistakes in every phase of the game.
The Duke defense seemed discombobulated in the opening half. Retzlaff either ran for nice gains — and three TDs — or found the open receiver passing. Tulane ran multiple formations and a lot of the plays worked.
“Way too many yards, way too many points, way too many missed tackles,” Diaz said. “I think we got a little unnerved early on and that allowed our discipline to wane, and we made mistakes that have been out of character for us on defense.”
On one play, the Green Wave had backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan in the game and had Retzlaff line up wide and go in motion. Sullivan faked a pitch to Retzlaff and instead had a shovel pass inside to Bryce Bohanon for a 14-yard gain to set up Retzlaff’s second score and a 14-0 lead.
“As a defense, it was about not tackling the way we’re supposed to tackle,” defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr., said. “I feel like we were in the right positions. We just didn’t tackle.”
Anthony did force the Retzlaff fumble in the third quarter -- after chasing him down from behind.
Duke’s offense had a slow start — a three-and-out on the first possession — and Mensah often was pushed out of the pocket and had to make decisions scrambling. He had one pass picked off by Tulane’s Javion White in the first half and White dropped another potential pick.
Mensah had the 29-yard YD throw to Hagans in the final minute of the first half but otherwise had a pedestrian first two quarters: 11-21 passing for 132 yards.
Sheppard could see more playing time
Looking for an individual highlight for Duke this game? It was Sheppard, a running back who returned home.
The 5-10 freshman from Mandeville, Louisiana, gave the Blue Devils some tough, bruising runs and was Duke’s leading rusher with 75 yards on five carries. With family and friends in the Yulman stands, he broke off a 35-yarder and barreled through Tulane defenders on other runs.
Sheppard scored his first career TD on Mensah’s 4-yard pass late in the game and run for a two-pointer. He closed the game with four grabs for 21 yards.
Sheppard did drop a third-down Mensah pass in the third quarter that proved costly – kicker Todd Pelino had a field-goal try blocked on the next play. But Sheppard likely has earned a lot more snaps in the coming games after Saturday’s effort.
Running QBs are a problem
Duke must find the right defensive schemes to cut off inside running lanes for quarterbacks who are mobile.
Elon’s Landen Clark hurt the Blue Devils in the first half of the season opener, and Illinois’ Luke Altmyer had some timely runs in the second game. But Retzlaff, who has a quick, decisive first step and power in his stride, was a game-long problem.
“He did play very well,” Diaz said. “We knew he had great speed and great running ability.”
The Blue Devils face N.C. State in their ACC opener on Saturday and the Wolfpack offensive coaches may have some designed runs planned for quarterback C.J. Bailey after watching Tulane’s success.
Work needed on special teams
Special team errors have been a problem for Duke in the early season and need to be corrected, quickly.
The Blue Devils fumbled a punt early against Illinois. That led to an Illini TD.
It was worse Saturday. The Blue Devils twice botched field-goal opportunities in the first half against Tulane and had another blocked in the second half.
Back-to-back false-start penalties resulted in a missed 44-yarder by Todd Pelino in the first quarter, and a bobbled snap and fumble blew up another field-goal try in the second period.
Pelino did convert a 28-yarder on the first play of the second quarter, but then had a 41-yard kick blocked late in the third quarter. He nailed a 47-yarder with 1:06 left in regulation to make it a seven-point game but the Devils then failed on an onside kick.
This story was originally published September 13, 2025 at 11:46 PM.
