2026 Week 1 Preview: Tulane Green Wave @ Duke Blue Devils

Game notes

• Time and date: Saturday, September 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET
• Network: ACC Network
• Location: Wallace Wade Stadium — Durham, NC
• Spread: Duke (-9.5)
• Over/under: 51.5
• All-time series: Series tied, 3-3
• Last meeting: Tulane 34, Duke 27 — September 14, 2025
• Current streak: Tulane, 1 (2025)

Setting the scene

There is only one Week 1 matchup that pits two reigning conference champions against one another.

American Conference champion Tulane travels to ACC champion Duke for a rematch of one of 2025’s most pivotal non-conference matchups. The Green Wave avenged former quarterback Darian Mensah and ousted the Blue Devils, 34-27, in New Orleans. That September result proved much more significant in December, as Tulane clinched a College Football Playoff spot as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions, while Duke did not.

Both teams underwent significant turnover in the offseason. Tulane lost head coach Jon Sumrall and all but five starters, while Duke lost two stars to the NFL and its prominent quarterback/wide receiver duo of Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate to ACC rival Miami (FL).

This season, the series flips to Durham, and who knows what the stakes of this matchup might be come December?

Tulane Green Wave outlook

Tulane is the American Conference’s premier dynasty of the 2020s. The Green Wave ride a streak of four-straight conference championship appearances. They’ve won two American titles in that span, earned a Cotton Bowl victory, qualified for the College Football Playoff, and finished two seasons ranked in the AP top 20.

Those Tulane accomplishments span two coaching regimes. The Green Wave rose to power under Willie Fritz and sustained it under Jon Sumrall. Now, it’s Will Hall’s mission to keep the Wave rolling. Hall served on both Fritz and Sumrall’s staffs in New Orleans, serving as the offensive coordinator from 2019-20 and the passing game coordinator in 2025. In between, he was the head coach at Southern Miss, posting a 14-30 record across four seasons.

However, Hall was a popular choice among the players to land the head coaching job, and Tulane emphasized its player-led culture all offseason — attributing the culture as a reason the program thrived during the transition from Fritz to Sumrall. The players leading said culture in 2026 include free safety Jack Tchienchou and outside linebacker Chris Rodgers.

Tchienchou was a First Team All-American Conference selection after leading the Green Wave with 83 tackles, in addition to picking off two passes. He also earned MVP honors of the team’s American Championship Game victory, where he helped limit North Texas’ No. 1 offense to a season-low 21 points. Rodgers also shined in the title game with a signature pick-six. He returns as Tulane’s second-leading tackler from 2025 with 80 stops.

With Tchienchou and Rodgers leading the way, the Green Wave boast more experience on defense than offensively. The Green Wave offer a potent linebacking corps, consisting of Rodgers, Dickson Agu — who started over Rodgers prior to a season-ending ACL injury — and Makai Williams who added three starts and 40 tackles at inside linebacker. Meanwhile, the Tchienchou-led secondary features a returning starting cornerback in E’zaiah Shine and experienced safeties Kevin Adams III (53 tackles, 2 interceptions in 2025) and TJ Smith (24 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss).

Still, the secondary seeks significant improvement. The Green Wave ranked 126th nationally in passing defense last season, allowing 262 yards per game through the air. Plays toward the boundary were their kryptonite in the CFP against Ole Miss, and they brought in transfers Macho Stevenson (Texas Tech), Anthony Rogers (FCS Nicholls), and Kajuan Banks (South Florida) to bolster the unit.

The defensive line was a strength of Tulane in 2025. Success in the trenches allowed the Green Wave to prevail in the conference championship, and their defense produced 2.6 sacks and 6.1 tackles for loss per game. Internal development will be key as three of four projected starters are promoted reserves. But perhaps the star of the unit is defensive tackle Ed Smith IV, a 6’3”, 306-pound South Alabama transfer entering his seventh year of college football.

Offensively, the Green Wave are on their fourth starting quarterback in four years. Former Louisiana and Houston starting quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion (13 FBS starts) won the fall camp QB battle over former MAC Freshman of the Year Kadin Semonza (15 FBS starts). The quarterbacks’ skillsets significantly contrast, which could lead to Tulane rotating the two throughout the year. Chriss-Gremillion is the more polished runner, producing 992 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in his career. As a passer, he tends to focus on shorter throws, completing 64.0 percent of attempts for 2,263 yards with 17 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.

Chriss-Gremillion’s mobility will be essential to the offense’s success, just like Jake Retzlaff’s was a year ago. Still, Tulane presents a capable running back room, although it may start the season shorthanded down Jamauri McClure, who thrived as RB1 toward the end of last season. If McClure is unable to return from a fall camp foot injury, Florida State transfer Jaylin Lucas and Maurice Turner — who posted 86 yards in the season opener before succumbing to injuries — will be tasked with keeping the ground game afloat.

However, Tulane’s stellar offensive line undergoes a significant reset losing four starters including all-conference talents Shadre Hurst and Derrick Graham. Right guard Elijah Baker is the lone returning starter, while right tackle Ryan Mickow (Boston College) is the team’s most established transfer addition.

Duke Blue Devils outlook

Duke will be the only ACC champion barred from the College Football Playoff — unless the rules change, which is always a possibility. The ACC champion is now granted an automatic bid, thanks to an amendment submitted after the Blue Devils missed the 12-team field last December.

Just like Tulane, Duke has enjoyed a successful four-year stretch spanning multiple coaching regimes. The program saw no drop-off from Mike Elko to Manny Diaz, and now it has produced three 9-win seasons in the past four years. Diaz remains on staff, as do coordinators Jonathan Brewer and Jonathan patke. The staff stability is there, but the question becomes, can Duke overcome its on-field personnel losses and defend its conference title?

Duke is one of two teams in this matchup to lose Darian Mensah to the portal after enjoying a season with him as QB1. Mensah finished second nationally last season in both passing yards (3,973) and passing touchdowns (34), and he’ll be difficult to replace. But Duke has made a habit of landing established portal quarterbacks, and it will send out San Jose State transfer Walker Eget this Saturday. Eget posted 3,051 yards in a pass-happy San Jose State offense, and he produced one of the FBS’s top two receiving leaders two years in a row — Nick Nash in 2024 and Danny Scudero in 2025.

Duke loses each of its top five wide receivers from a year ago, so who is the candidate to become Eget’s new Nash or Scudero? Early signs point to transfer portal additions. The Blue Devils landed Javen Nicholas (Charlotte), Jonah Burton (FCS Idaho State), and Jared Richardson (FCS Penn) who were standouts at their previous stops. There’s also a batch of redshirt freshmen ready to take the next step including Javion Solomon, Kavon Simmons, and Jamien Little.

The Blue Devils return four primary starters from the 2025 ACC championship-winning offense. Running back Nate Sheppard is the headliner after a Second Team All-ACC season which involved 1,132 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on a 5.7 average, and he’ll be supported by CJ Campbell, who produced 844 rushing yards at Florida Atlantic in 2024. Tight end Jeremiah Hasley is another established weapon after attaining 454 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 40 receptions last season. Center Matt Craycraft and left guard are back to lead an offensive line which features new transfers at both tackle positions.

Despite claiming its first ACC title since 1989, Duke was not spectacular on defense in 2025. The Blue Devils were 99th in scoring defense, 121st in total defense, 134th in passing defense in the FBS, 126th in third down defense, and 125th in red zone defense. There’s significant room to grow, and only four primary starters return from a year ago.

Duke loses its entire first team defensive line, which was the strength of the unit. The Blue Devils were 16th nationally in tackles for loss thanks to pieces like Vincent Anthony Jr., Aaron Hall, and Wesley Williams. Rather than restock through the portal, Duke turns to last year’s reserves as the new starters — although none of them generated a full share of a sack in 2025.

Middle linebacker Luke Mergott finished second on the team in tackles with 90, and he’s back to lead the unit after securing the game-sealing interception in the 2025 ACC Championship Game. Outside linebacker Kendall Johnson will line up alongside Mergott after a 37-tackle campaign last fall.

The secondary is the most experienced position group on defense, although the unit must replace two-time All-ACC selection and NFL Draft pick Chandler Rivers at cornerback. Duke only listed two transfers as starters on its initial depth chart, and both are Rivers replacements at corner. Dylan Flowers arrives after a stellar season at WKU, while Kyon Loud started seven games for Montana at the FCS level. A familiar face to watch in the secondary is safety DaShawn Stone, who produced 86 tackles and two interceptions as a 14-game starter last season.

Prediction

Tulane and Duke are very different teams in 2026, but what factors caused a 34-27 Green Wave victory a year ago? The Blue Devils outgained the Green Wave with 452 yards of offense, but they ended many promising possessions emptyhanded. They missed two field goals and turned it over on downs twice in Tulane territory.

Meanwhile, Tulane’s offense was multidimensional and bombarded the Blue Devils with 24 first half points, experiencing greater-than-usual success in the passing game. The Green Wave have a different quarterback, and the Blue Devils have a different defense, and that may not be as exploitable of an area given the new personnel.

Tulane will brand itself as a ground-oriented team. The Green Wave should be among the nation’s leaders in time of possession with a mobile quarterback in Zeon Chriss-Gremillion leading the room and a fortified running back room. Duke should be able to air it out quite well. Walker Eget threw at least 40 passes in six starts last season, and he has a favorable matchup in an up-tempo offense pitted against a passing defense that ranked 126th nationally a year ago.

The Green Wave defensive front keeps things close, but Duke avenges last September’s result in Durham.

Prediction: Duke 24, Tulane 17