The Tulane Green Wave will meet a bit of a hybrid monster of their first two opponents in the Duke Blue Devils this Saturday.

The Northwestern Wildcats had the size advantage. The South Alabama Jaguars arguably had the speed advantage that the Green Wave used to beat the Wildcats.

The Blue Devils won’t be as fast as South Alabama; they’ll be faster than Northwestern. Duke won’t be as big as the Wildcats; they’ll be bigger than the Jaguars.

Wide receivers Cooper Barkate, Andrel Anthony, and Que’Sean Brown will test the defense in coverage.

The trio accounts for 24 of the team’s 52 receptions and 424 of the 745 receiving yards. Anthony has pulled in three of the Blue Devil’s five receiving touchdowns.

What will pose a more mental challenge is who will be throwing to them under center in quarterback Darian Mensah.

In the age of the transfer portal and NIL, more and more rosters for opponents will feature former teammates.

This situation on Saturday isn’t unique to Tulane. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a new, emotional component to manage.

While Mensah’s reasons for transferring are understandable, that doesn’t erase the sting of how things ended last season without him on the team any longer.

It’s hard to ignore that playing a factor in the team’s mentality, but it’s important to balance.

There’s something to be said about raw motivation. It’s not something that can be cultivated.

Not only will the Green Wave want to shut down this offense more than most, but they’ll also be looking to bounce back from a win that wasn’t their best.

That’s a lot of chips on shoulders for a head coach to work with. And that second motivator is where most of the focus should go.

The defense will be more familiar with Mensah than any other quarterback with the insight from the offensive staff.

Safety Bailey Despanie practiced the entire 2023 season against Mensah when he was the scout team quarterback.

The speed and size of his team will be new to everyone this season.

The defense frankly made Northwestern quarterback Preston Stone look elementary, and the coverage outplayed their receiving corps.

Last weekend, they struggled with one receiver in Devin Voisin, in addition to running back Kentrell Bullock.

They haven’t faced a quarterback quite like Mensah, but they haven’t had to shut down anything close to his trio of receivers in Barkate, Anthony, and Brown.

That will test their game speed and mental toughness. The good thing about a win like last week’s over South Alabama?

It builds that toughness better than a dominant one ever will.