DURHAM – New Duke quarterback Darian Mensah learned a few things about his team this spring.

“I’d say that our defense is legit and we’ve got a lot of guys on the outside who can really play and take advantage of man coverage,” Mensah said on Saturday. “And that we’re going to be really good this year.”

Saturday was also a chance for Duke to learn about Mensah.

The Tulane transfer threw two touchdown passes in the first half of the Blue & White Game, which wrapped up Duke’s 15 spring football practices. An estimation of Mensah’s stats put him completing 12 of 14 passes for 185 yards and those two scores.

For coach Manny Diaz, this was simply a continuation of what the Blue Devils have seen out of Mensah for the past few weeks.

“He’s certainly more comfortable,” Diaz said of Mensah. “To think that it’s only 15 days in, and I imagine he’ll be even better when we go Practice 1 in August.”

Mensah’s first touchdown was on the first possession of the game. On a second-and-short, he floated a ball to the front right corner of the end zone, which allowed Spencer Jones to win a physical battle and land with a catch of about 35 yards.

The next touchdown from Mensah came on his next possession. On third-and-8, he fielded a low snap and launched downfield to Que’Sean Brown, who had gotten between defenders. That one hit him in stride and he was off for a 75-yard touchdown.

Duke’s offense scored four touchdowns, all of them through the air. Henry Belin IV threw a 31-yard touchdown to Sahmir Hagans before the end of the first half; freshman Dan Mahan ended the game with a touchdown to Jones, who scored twice and had three catches for 53 yards total.

Those scores are how the offense wound up winning the scrimmage, 38-26. The defense racked up points for three-and-outs or sacks in a modified scoring system, but didn’t force a turnover.

Here are a few other notes about Duke’s Blue & White Game:

Duke’s coach started out his press conference by talking about something unrelated to the spring game.

Diaz is a Florida State alum and gave a heartfelt address of his feelings about the shooting on campus earlier this week, which claimed the lives of two people and injured six others.

“Everybody here, Duke football, is thinking about everybody associated with Florida State University,” Diaz said. “I will say, the saddest part of the entire situation … is that as an alum, it’s actually the second one to happen there since I graduated.”

In 2014, a shooting injured three people at FSU; the shooter was fatally shot by police.

“That’s the real danger of this, of how normalized these things are becoming,” Diaz said. “To say that this is just a thing that happens is unacceptable and we cannot allow these things to continue to go on.

“It’s a multifaceted solution, there’s no easy answers. But it’s about time somebody comes up with some answers because we can’t send our kids to school and have situations like this happen.

“We wanted to express our thoughts here at Duke to everybody down there in Tallahassee as one of our ACC brethren.”

Not only is Diaz a Florida State alum; his wife, son and sister attended the university, and he currently has a niece at FSU.

Spring football is developmental football and that’s most evident on the offensive line.

Duke had two projected starters — Justin Pickett and Bruno Fina — lined up on its offensive line Saturday. Returning starters Matt Craycraft and Brian Parker II were not suited up but are not thought to have long-term injuries.

“We’ll get Craycraft and Parker back,” Diaz said. “To be able to lean on four guys who have played a ton will be a big part of our success next year.”

The concerning part is the omission of Micah Sahakian’s name. He returned late from an injury last season and played 165 snaps in Duke’s last five games, per Pro Football Focus.

But Sahakian was on crutches with his right knee wrapped on Saturday.