Canadians win 3 opening bowl games, Cornish Trophy finalists announced
Kurtis Rourke set to lead Indiana in CFP kickoff Friday night
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Welcome to the first week of the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff!
Let’s run through some storylines.
Heading south ✈️
CFP
Kurtis Rourke and the Indiana Hoosiers vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: The Canadian quarterback from Oakville, Ont. goes into his first CFP game facing a strong defence featuring safety Xavier Watts and defensive lineman Rylie Mills. There are also three Canucks on Notre Dame’s defensive line — Armel Mukam, Sean Sevillano and Devan Houstan — but aren’t impact players yet. Winner of Friday night’s 8 p.m. ET game plays the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Ohio State Buckeyes’ Canadian trio vs. Tennessee: Tight end Maxence LeBlanc and punter Anthony Venneri are on the Ohio State roster but haven’t played this season. Winner of Saturday’s 8 p.m. ET game faces the undefeated Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 2025.
Ty Benefield and the Boise State Broncos get to sit back on a bye: Benefield, a Vancouver native who’s shot up the Mountain West safety ranks, won’t have to play until Boise State’s New Year’s Eve Fiesta Bowl against the winner of the Penn State Nittany Lions and SMU Mustangs on Saturday.
For another breakdown of the college football postseason, read my latest Canuck U report on FanSided’s Saturday Blitz site:
Non-CFP bowl games
What happened?
All three Canadians who played in bowl games since Saturday won their trophies:
Success Chikezie and the Jackson State Tigers won the Celebration Bowl: Chikezie, an offensive lineman from Ottawa, won his first HBCU national championship on Saturday afternoon, beating SC State, 28-7, in the Cricket Celebration Bowl.
Darius McKenzie and the South Alabama Jaguars won the Salute to Veterans Bowl: McKenzie, a linebacker also from Ottawa, took care of business against the Western Michigan Broncos on Saturday night, winning the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl, 30-23. He made four tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss in the victory.
Jett Elad and the UNLV Rebels won the LA Bowl: Elad, a safety hailing from Mississauga, Ont., took home UNLV’s first bowl championship since 2000 after the Rebels dropped Cal, 24-13, in the Art of Sport LA Bowl — hosted by Rob Gronkowski — on Wednesday night. The Canadian made 12 tackles, and recorded a sack and a fumble recovery.
Who’s bowling this week?
There are 13 Canadians on seven teams in six non-CFP bowl games from now until next Thursday:
Callum Wither (Mississauga, Ont.), Ohio QB: StaffDNA Cure Bowl, Friday, 12 p.m. ET
Andrew Goodman (Montreal), Tulane longsnapper: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Malick Meiga (Montreal), Coastal Carolina wide receiver: Myrtle Beach Bowl, Monday, 11 a.m. ET
Cyrus McGarrell (Windsor, Ont.), Northern Illinois S: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Monday, 2:30 p.m. ET
Seven Rutgers Canadians: LB Dariel Djabome (Longueuil, Que.), running back Antwan Raymond (Montreal), and defensive linemen Djibril Abdou Rahman, Farell Gnago, Tyclean Luman, Tycoolhill Luman and Wesley Bailey in the Rate Bowl, Thursday, 5:30 p.m. ET
Head-to-head: Nate Martey (Ottawa), Arkansas State Red Wolves DL vs. Ali Saad (Windsor, Ont.), Bowling Green Falcons DL in the 68 Ventures Bowl, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET
FCS playoffs
There are six Canadians remaining in the FCS national semifinals, with a guarantee that at least one will be in the national championship game on Jan. 6, 2025.
Rohan Jones vs. South Dakota trio: Jones, a Montana State Bobcats tight end and fullback from Montreal, hasn’t played since Nov. 23 due to injury, but if he does this week, he’ll be up against the South Dakota Coyotes’ three Canadians — DL Carter Hooper (Toronto), DL Chris Dixon (Toronto) and WR Tristan Michaud (Quebec City, Que.).
South Dakota State Jackrabbits’ Canadians vs. North Dakota State: OL Ethan Vibert (Regina, Sask.) and defensive back Noah St-Juste (Montreal) are looking to meet at least one Canadian in the national title in a few weeks, and threepeat as champions if they can get past the North Dakota State Bison.
ICYMI: Read last week’s Pressure Package newsletter
Jon Cornish Trophy finalists announced
TSN’s Gridiron Nation announced the five finalists for the 2024 Jon Cornish Trophy — awarded to the top Canadian NCAA football player — on Thursday. The winner will be announced Monday
Kurtis Rourke, Indiana Hoosiers QB: The gunslinger from Oakville, Ont. was one of the best passers in college football this year and was the ninth-highest vote-getter for the 2024 Heisman Trophy.
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford Cardinal WR: Last year’s winner from Medicine Hat, Alta. is looking to repeat for this award.
Ty Benefield, Boise State Broncos S: Vancouver’s finest is focusing on the Fiesta Bowl in a few weeks, but should be proud to be named on this list in his sophomore year.
Dariel Djabome, Rutgers Scarlet Knights LB: The Longueuil, Que. product finished his 2024 season with 102 tackles — the first time a Canadian has hit the triple-digit tackle mark since Amen Ogbongbemiga made 100 with Oklahoma State in 2019.
Jett Elad, UNLV Rebels S: The Rebels’ defence was versatile this season because of Elad’s ability to not just hold off passing attacks, but also play in the box and stop offences at or behind the line of scrimmage.
Honourable mentions:
Rohan Jones (Montreal), Montana State Bobcats TE/FB
Jaylen Smith (Hamilton, Ont.), North Texas Mean Green LB
Keelan White (Vancouver), Montana Grizzlies WR
Nick Cenacle (Montreal), Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors WR
Back north: U Sports offseason headlines 🍁
Engagement on live TV: My former Western Mustangs teammate, David Brown, proposed to his now-fiancee on Andy Cohen’s “Watch What Happens Next” show on Bravo TV Wednesday night. Safe to say it was his best ring performance since winning the 2023 Grey Cup with the Montreal Alouettes, and the 2017 Vanier Cup after playing the whole game on a torn ACL from the first play of the U Sports football national championship. Brown just finished his first year as an assistant offensive line coach for Montreal, where he last played the season before.
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Former McGill OL and Super Bowl champion appointed to the Order of Canada: Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who played OL for the McGill Redbirds and then the Kansas City Chiefs while completing his MD, was appointed to the Order of Canada this week. The former football player opted out of his NFL contract in 2020 to help fight COVID-19 on the front lines during the pandemic, working in a long-term care facility.
Deionte Knight heading home: Another one of my former teammates is in the news! Knight, who played for Western from 2018 until 2021, signed with the Ottawa RedBlacks, the team announced Tuesday. Knight is originally from the capital city, where his dad, DeWayne, played for the former Rough Riders. Knight played for the Toronto Argonauts in 2022 until 2024 before the Hamilton Tiger-Cats signed him off the Argos practice roster this past season. He was a part of four former U Sports signings for the RedBlacks this week.