Darian Mensah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
.jpg) Mensah with Tulane during the 2024 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game | |
| No. 10 – Miami Hurricanes | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (2005-01-25) January 25, 2005 (age 21) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | St. Joseph (Santa Maria, California) |
| College |
|
| Awards and highlights | |
| Stats at ESPN | |
Darian Okoe Mensah (born January 25, 2005) is an American college football quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes. He previously played for the Tulane Green Wave and Duke Blue Devils.
Mensah attended St. Joseph High School in Santa Maria, California. As a senior, he was the Mountain League Player of the Year after passing for 2,256 with 25 total touchdowns.[1] He committed to Tulane University to play college football.[2]
College career
Tulane
After redshirting his first year at Tulane in 2023, Mensah was named the Green Wave’s starting quarterback for the 2024 season, winning the job in fall camp over Kai Horton and former Oregon transfer Ty Thompson.[3] He made an immediate impact in his first collegiate start against Southeastern Louisiana, throwing for 205 yards and two touchdowns in a 52–0 victory, and followed it with a career-high 342 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 34–27 loss to No. 17 Kansas State.[4][5]
Mensah started all 13 games during the 2024 season, finishing the year with 189 completions on 287 attempts (65.9 percent) for 2,723 yards, 22 touchdowns, and six interceptions, while adding 132 rushing yards and a touchdown. He threw for 300 yards or more in three games and recorded multiple touchdown passes in eight contests.
Under Mensah’s leadership, Tulane posted a 9–4 record, reached the American Athletic Conference Championship Game, and earned a berth in the Gasparilla Bowl. He led the AAC in completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating.[6]
On December 8, 2024, Mensah announced his intention to enter the NCAA transfer portal and subsequently opted out of Tulane’s bowl game.[7] He was regarded as the top-rated player in the transfer portal by ESPN before committing to Duke.
Duke
On December 11, 2024, Mensah announced he would be transferring to Duke University.[8]
Mensah opened his Duke career with a 45–17 win over Elon, throwing three touchdown passes for 389 yards. Duke then faced early challenges, including consecutive losses to Illinois and a 34–27 defeat against Mensah’s former team, Tulane, in which he threw for 313 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.[9]
He then led Duke through a five-game stretch in which the team went 4–1, completing 71 percent of his passes with a 13–0 touchdown-to-interception ratio. This included a standout performance on November 1 against Clemson, where he threw for 361 yards, four touchdowns, and completed a game-winning two-point conversion in the final minute to secure a 46–45 victory, keeping Duke in ACC Championship contention.[10]
Mensah finished the regular season completing 67.9 percent of his passes for 3,646 yards, 30 touchdown passes, and five interceptions. He ranked among the national leaders in passing yards and touchdowns, set a Duke single-season record for passing touchdowns—breaking Maalik Murphy’s 2024 record—and also led the ACC in passing yards and touchdowns. He was named Second-team All-ACC.[11]
Duke earned a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship Game, where Mensah led the team to a 27–20 overtime victory over No. 16 Virginia, avenging their earlier-season defeat. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in overtime. The win secured Duke’s first outright ACC championship since 1962 and ended Virginia’s College Football Playoff hopes.[12]
Following the ACC Championship, Mensah announced he would return to Duke for the 2026 season, forgoing the 2026 NFL Draft. He had signed a two-year, $8 million NIL contract with Duke in 2024 upon transferring from Tulane.[13]
Duke concluded the season with a 42–39 victory over Arizona State in the 2025 Sun Bowl, the highest-scoring Sun Bowl in history. Mensah threw for 327 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception, earning Sun Bowl MVP honors for his performance.[14] In the game, Mensah set a new single-season school record with 3,973 passing yards, surpassing Anthony Dilweg's 1988 mark. He also established new single-season school records for total offensive yards (3,941) and total touchdowns (35), breaking the previous marks set by Dilweg and Riley Leonard.[15]
On January 16, 2026, Mensah decided to enter the transfer portal and leave Duke.[16] On January 20, Duke sued Mensah, attempting to prevent him from entering the transfer portal, citing a breach of contract.[17]
Miami
On January 27, 2026, Mensah committed to play for the Miami Hurricanes.[18]
Statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2023 | Tulane | 0 | 0 | — | Redshirted  | |||||||||||
| 2024 | Tulane | 13 | 13 | 9–4 | 189 | 287 | 65.9 | 2,723 | 9.5 | 22 | 6 | 166.7 | 60 | 132 | 2.2 | 1 |
| 2025 | Duke | 14 | 14 | 9–5 | 334 | 500 | 66.8 | 3,973 | 7.9 | 34 | 6 | 155.3 | 59 | –32 | –0.5 | 1 |
| Career | 27 | 27 | 18–9 | 523 | 787 | 66.5 | 6,696 | 8.5 | 56 | 12 | 159.0 | 119 | 100 | 0.8 | 2 | |
References
- ↑ Cress, Kenny (August 30, 2024). "SJ alum Darian Mensah shines in Tulane debut". Santa Ynez Valley News.
- ↑ Cress, Kenny (December 22, 2022). "Standout St. Joseph senior quarterback Darian Mensah is bound for Tulane". Santa Maria Times.
- ↑ Smith, Guerry (September 6, 2024). "Meet Darian Mensah, the redshirt freshman who took Tulane's starting QB job by surprise". NOLA.com.
- ↑ Smith, Guerry (August 29, 2024). "Impressive debut: Tulane QB Darian Mensah sharp in shutout of Southeastern". NOLA.com.
- ↑ Smith, Guerry (August 30, 2024). "No nerves: Tulane QB Darian Mensah performed like seasoned veteran in first career game". NOLA.com.
- ↑ "2024 Game Log". sports-reference.com. December 31, 2025.
- ↑ Pope, Keegan (December 8, 2024). "Tulane QB Darian Mensah plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal". On3.com. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
- ↑ "QB Mensah, top player in portal, chooses Duke". ESPN.com. 2024-12-11. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
- ↑ "2025 Game Log". sports-reference.com. December 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Did a Duke 2-pointer at Clemson knock Notre Dame out?". The New York Times. 2025-12-12. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ↑ "ACC Announces 2025 All-ACC Football Teams".
- ↑ "Duke Walks Off No. 16 Virginia, 27-20, in Overtime to Win ACC Championship". goduke.com. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ↑ "Quarterback Darian Mensah returning to Duke next year". ESPN.com. 2025-12-31. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ↑ "Arizona State vs. Duke – Sun Bowl 2025". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ↑ "Darian Mensah makes history as Duke football takes Sun Bowl". balldurham. Retrieved 2025-12-31.
- ↑ Olson, Max (January 16, 2026). "Duke QB Darian Mensah changes mind, enters transfer portal". ESPN. Retrieved January 20, 2026.
- ↑ Schlabach, Mark (January 20, 2026). "Duke sues Darian Mensah, tries to stop transfer portal entry". ESPN.
- ↑ Olson, Max (2026-01-27). "Darian Mensah, Duke settle; QB commits to Miami". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2026-03-24.
External links
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