NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Quarterback Jake Retzlaff rushed for four touchdowns as Tulane beat Duke 34-27 Saturday night.
Retzlaff had scoring runs of 19 and 6 yards in the first quarter, 20 yards in the second quarter and 11 yards in the third quarter, setting a school record for rushing TDs by a quarterback in a game.
Retzlaff, a transfer from BYU, finished with 245 yards passing and 111 rushing – his second 100-yard rushing game in three starts. “Guys bought into that game plan,” Retzlaff said. “It’s an 11-man operation. I just did my job.”
Tulane (3-0) built a 24-3 lead, scoring on four of its first five possessions. “I thought our guys came out focused,” said Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, whose team fell behind 14-0 last Saturday at South Alabama.
Duke (1-2) rallied to within 24-16 early in the third quarter on a pair of touchdown passes by Darian Mensah.
The Green Wave answered with Retzlaff’s fourth touchdown run and a Patrick Durkin field goal to extend the lead to 34-16.
Duke scored twice in the final three minutes but failed on a pair of onside kicks.
The takeaway
Duke: The Blue Devils have lost consecutive games in September for the first time since 2020 and dropped consecutive nonconference games for the first time since 2010.
Tulane: The Green Wave is undefeated through three games for only the third time in 50 years. The other times Tulane opened with at least three consecutive wins in the last half-century, in 1998 and 2022, it went on to win 12 games and a conference title in each season.
Key play
Leading 24-16, Tulane faced a fourth-and-2 at its 45 with 9:35 left in the third quarter. After a time out, Sumrall sent the offense out.
“The analytics tell you to go there,” Sumrall said, “but I felt like it was a critical part of the game. We wanted to have a pass/run option, or Jake could go thumbs down and we … punt.”
Retzlaff gained 3 yards on a keeper and capped the drive with his fourth touchdown run.
Rude return
Darian Mensah, Tulane’s starting quarterback last season before transferring to Duke in December, got a rude welcome from the Green Wave student section and his former teammates.
Mensah, who had completed less than 60 percent of his passes only twice in 15 career starts, went 30 for 51 for 313 yards, his third straight 300-yard game.
“We didn’t give up (big) touchdown plays,” Sumrall said. “That was a big thing for us, making them drive the football.”
Devil mistakes
One week after committing five turnovers in a home loss to Illinois, Duke cut that number to one on Saturday, but had three miscues in its field goal execution – a missed 44-yard try in the first quarter after a pair of pre-snap penalties, a mishandled snap on a 50-yard attempt in the second quarter and a blocked kick by Tulane’s TJ Smith in the third quarter.
Up next
Duke: The Blue Devils open Atlantic Coast Conference play at home against N.C. State next Saturday.
Tulane: The Green Wave heads to No. 17 Ole Miss next Saturday.