Duke star quarterback Darian Mensah is returning to school in 2026. The rising junior signal caller announced his decision earlier today.
Mensah led the Blue Devils to a 27-20 overtime win over Virginia in the ACC Championship Game earlier this month. He completed 19-of-25 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns.
On the opening possession of OT, Duke went for it on a fourth-and-goal play from the 1. Mensah found tight end Jeremiah Hasley for a one-yard TD pass.
In a video posted to his Instagram account, Mensah said, “The Decision. Let’s run this back.
“This year was everything to me. This team, this locker room, this family welcomed me with open arms … When the odds were against us, we kept fighting. I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.”
In 13 games this season, Mensah has connected on 305-of-449 throws (67.9%) for 3,646 yards with a 30/5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He added one rushing TD.
Mensah came to Duke before the 2025 campaign after signing an NIL deal that was reportedly worth $8 million for two seasons. He led the Blue Devils to their first outright ACC championship since 1962.
They finished the season with an 8-5 straight-up record and a 6-6-1 against-the-spread mark.
Duke will take on Arizona St. at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, TX., on New Year’s Eve at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
As of late Friday afternoon, most books had the Blue Devils installed as 2.5-point favorites with a total of 49.5. The Sun Devils were in the +115 to +120 range on the money line.
Mensah played at Tulane as a freshman in 2024. He completed 189-of-287 passes (65.9%) for 2,723 yards with a 22/6 TD-INT ratio.
Mensah has 6,369 career passing yards with an elite 52/11 TD-INT ratio.