Tulane Green Wave football has won their last four season openers, but will have to do so on the road for the first time in that streak against the Blue Devils.
New Orleans, La. – There have been a few moments that stand out in the Tulane Green Wave’s run of success at Yulman Stadium, namely, the first American Conference championship game in 2022.
But for a regular season game, not many games come close to the crowd noise that welcomed Darian Mensah back to campus quarterbacking the Duke Blue Devils in Week 3 of last season.
It was shockingly loud, and it clearly had an effect on the home team’s play in the 34-27 victory that brought a field rush at the final whistle.
Things will be quite different this year in a duel featuring Blue Devils’ quarterback Walker Eget against the Green Wave’s Zeon Chriss-Gremillion, and a lot of the players from last year’s roster are gone from both sides.
Those who were on that team last season who will greet Tulane to the 2026 college football season in Week 1 certainly won’t have forgotten that.
Neither will Duke’s fans. It’s also a marquee matchup featuring the ACC champ facing off against the reigning champs in the American.
That, and now that the rematch is in Durham, NC., the Blue Devils fans should be out in droves to look for a fifth consecutive win in their season openers – all of which were at Wallace Wade Stadium.
They’ll also be looking to get right in this one after Tulane got the best of them last year.
None of that is lost in former Duke tight end Vance Bolyard, who expects his old team to come out hot against his new one, and also expects that from the crowd.
“I think we're going to use that to our advantage too, because sometimes that stadium can be a little down and quiet,” Bolyard said. “But I think with them popping, it'll be good for us.”
And while the Blue Devils are looking to go 5-0 in their last five season openers, they meet a formidable opponent in the Green Wave.
Tulane has also won their last four season openers – but they’ve all been at home.
So, this is a new test in a way for this Green Wave team, who seems to always thrive on the road, but hasn’t been challenged to do so in Week 1 since 2021.
“We were talking about that the other day,” linebacker Dickson Agu told reporters on Tuesday. “This is the first season opener we've ever played on the road since we've been here. But I mean, I think it's fun. I love away games actually, the hostile atmosphere. I feel like that makes us play harder.”
And it almost helps in a way when that environment is slightly hostile. As Bolyard pointed out, it’s better than a quiet stadium lacking energy that can tend to suck it from the players on the field.
The Wave funneled in some crowd noise at practice on Wednesday to simulate a bit of the distractions they’ll have to face in Week 1 for the first time in five years, but they’ll look to feed off that stimulation just as much this upcoming weekend.
