Old Tulane quarterback turned new star Duke quarterback Darian Mensah might have been the story going into the night, but new Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff was certainly the story coming out.
That’s what happens when you break a school record for single game rushing TDs by a quarterback, as Retzlaff did with a sensational 4 TDs on the ground today, propelling the Green Wave to a 34-27 victory over Duke. Those 4 rushing TDs are just one behind Matt Forte’s single game record of 5 for the Green Wave. Retzlaff had a great day, finishing with 356 total yards on top of the 4 TDs, but to him, it was a team performance on offense.
“It’s an 11 man operation. I just happened to be the one fortunate enough to get in the endzone this week, but it will happen a million different ways this year, because we have lots of different guys who can do it.”
Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff
On the other side of the ball, the Mensah-led Duke offense sputtered to start the game. After a breakout season with Tulane last year, Mensah transferred to Duke to become their new starting QB, leading to natural hostility brewing for this game. Mensah finished with a solid stat line (315 passing yards, 3 TDs 1 INT), but Tulane’s defense prevailed, slowing down the explosive Blue Devil passing game enough to come away with the victory.
That natural hostility helped lead to a homefield crowd that could not be described as anything short of electric. The sellout crowd of 30k fans made a huge difference in this game, providing juice for the Green Wave at various moments and “welcoming” Mensah with as difficult of an environment as they could make. The emotions were palpable in the stadium, and when the revenge against Darian Mensah was realized in the fans’ collective minds, they decided to storm the field in celebration.
The 1st quarter set the tone for the game as Retzlaff looked incredible and the crowd made its mark quickly. Retzlaff was unstoppable in the first half, throwing only 2 incompletions on top of all of his rushing production. He marched the offense down the field with two TD drives (both rushing TDs by him) on Tulane’s first two possessions, putting the Green Wave out to a quick 14-0 lead.
Duke tried to get on the board with a field goal, but the crowd made its presence felt, helping to induce two false start penalties on the field goal attempt. After that, the rattled kicker missed the try. It would be the first of three botched field goal attempts for the Blue Devils on the night, alongside a botched hold and a blocked kick later on, that would help make the difference in the game.
“The student section was awesome. It was loud. It effected the game. They had two false starts on a field goal. That wasn’t us, that was the crowd. Thank you to everybody that came, and we need that environment all the time. We have a great team, venue, and stadium, and it was great to see such an awesome crowd out there tonight.”
Tulane Head Coach Jon Sumrall
Duke kicked off the 2nd quarter by getting on the board with a field goal to cut the lead to 11. But Tulane marched right back down the field with Retzlaff using his legs on a 20 yard touchdown run, his 3rd of the game, to make the lead 21-3.
Javion White got his 3rd pick of the season, leading Tulane to one last field goal to cap their 1st half scoring and make it a 21 point lead. With their back against the wall down by 3 touchdowns, Duke finally found the endzone at the end of the half, thanks to a Darian Mensah scramble and deep pass to Sahmir Hagans. However they went for 2 and failed, making the halftime score 24-9.
Retzlaff’s near-flawless first half didn’t carry over into the 3rd quarter, as he had the ball knocked out on Tulane’s first drive, giving Duke the ball in Green Wave territory. Thanks to an insane circus catch by Cooper Barkate, Duke got into the redzone, where Mensah found Landen King in the back of the endzone for a Blue Devil touchdown. With the fumble essentially giving Duke a 2 for 1 opportunity, a Tulane team cruising off of a 21 point lead suddenly found itself in a one score game.
With the tension in the game at its highest, Tulane was faced with a tough choice: 4th and 1 at midfield. Only up by 8 with all the momentum on Duke’s side, Coach Sumrall either had to punt it back to an on-fire Duke offense or risk giving said offense another short field. Sumrall put the ball in Retzlaff’s hands who squeaked out the yard needed, and the Green Wave rolled from there. A few plays later, Retzlaff finished what he started with his 4th rushing touchdown of the game, which proved to be the dagger. One last big play to Shazz Preston led to a final field goal drive, extending the lead to 18 (34-16 score), which seemed to put things out of reach.
Despite a seemingly hopeless situation, Duke didn’t go down quietly. Mensah continued leading productive drives, and Mandeville High School product Nate Sheppard broke out late in this game as a key option out of the backfield for the Blue Devils moving forward. Sheppard caught a pass from Mensah and took it to the house, scoring his first touchdown at the collegiate level, to make the score 34-24 after a successful 2pt try.
Duke had the momentum at the end but just ran out of time, kicking a field goal late to make the final score 34-27. The onside kick bounced out of bounds with a minute left, and Tulane finished off its 2nd power 4 win this season. It was a big win for Coach Sumrall’s team, but with a trip to Oxford looming large next week against a probable top 15 opponent in Ole Miss, there is still a long road ahead of the Green Wave. It’s a tough loss for Duke coming off of a 5 turnover disaster against Illinois, but they have a chance to bounce back when they open up conference play next week against NC St.
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