Canadian senior men's team goes full Magellan in Italy; Ty Benefield taking WR reps at Boise State
London Legends, Tune Squad win Adult Flag Circuit championships
In bocca al lupo!
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Up north 🍁
After nearly a week of training camp two-a-days at Western University, the Canadian senior men’s football team arrived in Europe’s boot on Wednesday for its friendly against the host team in Cagliari, Italy, on Saturday. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the game and what’s going on behind the scenes:
If you’re on this side of the Atlantic, you can watch the game on IFAF.tv on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET.
There are 45 players on the active roster, 38 of whom are alumni from 15 U Sports football teams; the Western Mustangs lead with nine playing in the tournament.
The team spent much of Thursday travelling around Rome — some on foot, others opting for an electric scooter — touring the Colosseum and other historic landmarks.
The London Legends and Tune Squad won their respective division titles — and $750 — at last Saturday’s Adult Flag Circuit championships at Fleming College in Peterborough, Ont. Many players in the tournament also play for university flag football teams:
The Legends beat Rivals, a Toronto-based flag team, in the women’s title game.
Tune Squad beat KPG, a fellow Montreal flag team, in the men’s division championship.
The circuit was presented by the Detroit Lions in partnership with Football Ontario and NFL Canada.
Laurier Golden Hawks quarterback Taylor Elgersma was in Green Bay on Wednesday to meet the Packers at their top-30 visit.
NFL teams invite 30 prospects to their facilities to get more information on players they have at least some interest in.
Elgersma became the first Canadian college football quarterback to play in February’s Senior Bowl — the premier NFL Draft prospect game — and could hear his name called in the later rounds of the draft, happening April 24-26.
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Heading south ✈️
Boise State Broncos safety Ty Benefield has been taking reps at receiver this week, prompting comparisons to two-way Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Here’s what we know:
Benefield, who was born in Vancouver and played for Vancouver College in high school, grew up playing both ways. His uncle, Billy Nealy, was his receiver coach before he got to college, and has been using some of his lessons, the Canadian told reporters earlier this week.
Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson called Benefield last week to ask if the junior wanted to play receiver on top of his starting safety role. The answer wasn’t no.
Benefield is coming off a sophomore season where he led the Broncos’ defence with 82 tackles and two interceptions. He’s already a strong defender, especially in zone coverage; he ranks second (tied) among all NCAA safeties in pass play stops (11) when he’s in zone, per Pro Football Focus, showcasing his ability to come down from his safety drop to make gain-stopping tackles. But can he also make a Hunter-like impact on offence and sustain a strong development on defence? I guess we’ll find out.
(Skip to 5:24 of the above YouTube video to listen to Benefield talk about taking receiver reps in practice.)
Defensive back Devynn Cromwell is transferring from the Texas Tech Red Raiders, the Toronto native announced Thursday on X/Twitter. Here’s the deets:
Cromwell played one season at Texas Tech, tallying 20 tackles in nine games.
The Canadian was up north in U Sports with the Guelph Gryphons for four years — three seasons — from 2020 to 2023 before transferring south in December 2023. He finished his Canadian university career with 29 tackles, two interceptions, seven passes defended, one forced fumble, one recovery and 2.5 tackles for loss in 10 OUA games.
Cromwell is in the portal as a grad transfer.
ICYMI: Read last week’s Pressure Package
Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor told reporters earlier this month he’s on a new diet, resulting in his body fat dropping from 22 to 16 per cent, while maintaining a 272-pound frame.
The Ottawa product said he feels more powerful and that he can stand his ground better against the run.
Mesidor also told media that he’s excited for this coming season’s defensive scheme, which he said will continue to allow him to play inside and on the edge of the Canes’ defensive line.
Similar to his fellow Canadian LSU DL Paris Shand in the SEC, Mesidor was the only ACC DL to play at least 40 snaps in each of four different alignments in 2024, per PFF:
NT: 40
DT: 169
4-tech: 103
5-tech: 201
Student shout-outs 📢
I got my start in multimedia storytelling and sports journalism at a student newspaper. It’s important for me to spread the love to those student journos finding new leads on campus fields across the country, just like I did a short time ago.
OUA
The Western Gazette (Western)
*My old stomping grounds!
The Cord (Laurier)
Imprint (Waterloo)
The Silhouette (McMaster)
The Varsity (Toronto)
Excalibur (York)
The Queen’s Journal (Queen’s)
The Fulcrum (Ottawa)
The Charlatan (Carleton)
Canada West
The Ubyssey (UBC)
The Gateway (Alberta)
The Gauntlet (Calgary)
The Sheaf (Saskatchewan)
The Manitoban (Manitoba)
RSEQ
Impact Campus (Laval)
*Covered Rouge et Or football in the Vanier Cup
Quartier Libre (Montreal)
Concordia
The McGill Tribune (McGill)
Le Collectif (Sherbrooke)
AUS
The Xaverian Weekly (StFX)
The Campus (Bishop’s)
The Athenaeum (Acadia)
The SMU Journal (Saint Mary’s)
More Canadian college football coverage
The media covers U Sports football at a level not seen since theScore’s former television program “University Rush” covered Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS, the former name for U Sports) football until the early 2010s.