Perhaps there’s a small piece of Northwestern coach David Braun that wishes quarterback Darian Mensah had stayed at Tulane instead of taking a reported two-year, $8 million deal to transfer to Duke.
If Mensah had stayed, then Braun and the Wildcats wouldn’t have needed to spend so much time preparing for Tulane’s many quarterback options heading into Saturday’s season opener in New Orleans.
With Mensah gone, Tulane went out and grabbed Ball State transfer Kadin Semonza … and Illinois transfer Donovan Leary … and Northwestern/Iowa transfer Brendan Sullivan … and BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff. It’s part of a larger theme for Tulane. A total of 60 new faces dot the roster and Tulane has just five starters back from last year’s 9-5 squad.
Retzlaff has the biggest resume of the incoming quarterbacks. He threw for 2,947 yards and 20 touchdowns last year for a BYU squad that went 11-2 and finished No. 13 in the final Associated Press rankings. But he also showed up later than the rest of the QB room. He joined Tulane in late July after having a sexual assault lawsuit dismissed, but not a seven-game suspension for breaking BYU’s honor code.
“I will probably name a starter at 10:59 a.m. on game day when we play at 11,” second-year Tulane coach Jon Sumrall told WDSU-TV with a smile creasing his lips. “We’ll make a decision before then, but I don’t know that I’ll publicly put it out there. I don’t know how that helps us.”
Or, certainly, Northwestern.
But at least there’s still a chance Sullivan, who helped Braun and NU reach the Las Vegas Bowl in 2023, could face his first school, though he dealt with an injury this fall that kept him off the field for a stretch prior to game week.
“We’re obviously very familiar with Sully,” Braun said with a smile. “Still going back and studying his tape from last year. Taking a look at BYU film and Ball State film. Making sure we’re familiar with the skill sets of every quarterback that’s on the roster.”
Northwestern isn’t as coy about its starting signalcaller as SMU transfer Preston Stone earned the job. In four years at SMU, Stone completed 59.3 percent of his passes for 4,030 yards, 35 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. His new teammates like Stone enough to vote him a captaincy.
While Tulane’s new quarterback takes the keys to an offense that averaged 35.1 points per game on the way to the Gasparilla Bowl (where they lost to Florida, 33-8), Northwestern’s new quarterback inherits an offense that ranked 128th out of 134 among FBS teams with 17.8 points per game.
That’s why the Wildcats hope their deep, experienced defense will carry them through in the Big Easy heat – and every other venue this season.
“I think the two things that stand out: A lot of experience on that side of the ball – a lot of experience specifically in the D-line room – and also a level of depth at all positions that we’re really confident in,” Braun said. “The way that we rotate on D-line, that’s an absolute necessity… That’s something that needs to be a strength, needs to show up for us on Saturday.”
