Scouting Report for Tulane's Season Opener: Defending ACC Champ, Duke
Tulane Football Schedule 2026
Week 1 - at Duke, September 5
Week 2 - South Alabama, September 12
Week 3 - at Kansas State, September 19
Week 4 - Southern Miss, September 26
Week 5 - OPEN DATE, October 3
Week 6 - at Army, October 10
Week 7 - Memphis, October 16
Week 8 - UTSA, October 24
Week 9 - at Charlotte, October 30
Week 10 - Tulsa, November 7
Week 11 - at Rice, November 14
Week 12 - North Texas, November 21
Week 13 - at South Florida, November 27
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Looking Back to 2025
Last year, just a few weeks from where we are now, the then 20th ranked Tulane football team welcomed former Greenie quarterback Darian Mensah and his new team, the Duke Blue Devils, to Yulman Stadium.
The Green Wave defeated Duke, 34-27 in front of a capacity crowd of almost 30,000 at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans. Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff was the star of the show, setting a school single-game record with four rushing TDs, while throwing for 245-yards. Duke mounted a second-half rally led by Mensah, but the Wave managed the clock and recovered an onside kick late to seal the victory.
Opening Weekend for 2026
The two teams meet again in 2026, this time to open the season, as they have a Saturday afternoon tussle in Durham, North Carolina. Game time, 2:30 p.m. CT from Wallace Wade Stadium. As of this writing, Duke is a 9.5-point favorite over Tulane.
Later this week, we'll be talking with On SI Duke writer Hugh Straine.
Duke Offense Overhaul
The stars of the aerial attack from 2025 are gone, losing Mensah (Miami) and their top three wide receivers in Cooper Barkate (Miami), Que'Sean Brown (Virginia Tech), and Samir Hagans (drafted).
Duke's projected depth chart lists Jared Richardson (transfer, Penn), Jaivon Solomon (freshman), and Javen Nicholas (transfer, LSU) as their starting three receivers.
Where the Blue Devils made a haul was at the quarterback slot. Fifth year senior Walker Eget transfers from San Jose State to finish his college career. Eget threw for 3,051-yards, 17 TDs, and 9 interceptions with a rating of 133.9 for the Spartans last season.
The real key was retaining running back Nate Sheppard. He had a solid year for Duke, rushing for 1,132-yards on 200 carries, making him average 5.7-yards per carry. He racked up four 95+ yard rushing games with two over 150-yards. His best game came against Arizona State in the Sun Bowl, where he tallied 170-yards and a touchdown.
Defense WAS an Issue Last Year
Duke's defense was abysmal last year, allowing 30.4 points per game (96th in the country), 435.4 yards per game (119th), and 6.3 yards per play (121st). Coach Manny Diaz believes his young defense is ready to step up in 2026, as he did what the Green Wave have done for years: rotated people in throughout a game, giving them experience.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.