Over 60 Canadians on teams in CFB postseason
7 in CFP, 7 alive in FCS playoffs and 49 in non-CFP bowl games
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With little U Sports storylines in December as students begin to go home for winter holidays, we’re going to focus on college football down south and the Canadian talent there for a little bit.
Heading south ✈️
Top Canadian CFB storylines:
Boise State Broncos safety Ty Benefield (Vancouver) won his second straight Mountain West conference championship last Friday against UNLV, 21-7, and fellow Canadian DB Jett Elad (Mississauga, Ont.)
Seven Canadians are on rosters in the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket
Seven Canadians are on teams still alive in this week’s quarterfinals in the FCS playoffs
Nearly 50 Canadians are on 32 teams in 25 of 36 non-CFP bowl games this winter
ICYMI: Conference championship preview from last week’s Pressure Package
CFP
For the first time, a Canadian quarterback — Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ont.) — will start in a CFP game when the Hoosiers take on Notre Dame and a trio of fellow Canucks next Friday. Benefield’s Boise State will have an extended break before its Fiesta Bowl national quarterfinal game on New Year’s Eve.
Full list of CFP Canadians:
Kurtis Rourke (Oakville, Ont.), Indiana QB
Ty Benefield (Vancouver), Boise State DB
Sean Sevillano Jr. (Winnipeg), Notre Dame DL
Armel Mukam (La Prairie, Que.), Notre Dame DL
Devan Houstan (Mississauga, Ont.), Notre Dame DL
Anthony Venneri (Hamilton, Ont.), Ohio State P
Maxence LeBlanc (Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Que.), Ohio State TE
FCS playoffs
There are three FCS quarterfinal playoff games this week that feature Canadians.
Rohan Jones’ Montana State will meet Aamarii Notice’s Idaho on Friday night as the only Canadian-vs-Canadian game on the slate. Ethan Vibert and Noah St-Juste’s South Dakota State will play Incarnate Word, and three Canadians on South Dakota will face off with UC Davis on Saturday afternoon.
Full list of FCS Canadians:
Rohan Jones (Montreal), Montana State TE/FB
Aamarii Notice (Toronto), Idaho DL
Ethan Vibert (Regina, Sask.), South Dakota State OL
Noah St-Juste (Montreal), South Dakota State DB
Carter Hooper (Toronto), South Dakota DL
Chris Dixon (Toronto), South Dakota DL
Tristan Michaud (Quebec City, Que.), South Dakota WR
Non-CFP bowl games
There are 49 Canadians playing on 32 teams in 25 of 36 non-CFP bowl games in December and January. You’ll see the most in the Rate Bowl on Boxing Day because of Rutgers’ seven-Canadian roster, and you can watch multiple Canucks play against multiple fellow countrymen the next day in the Holiday Bowl.
But my favourite to watch? The Pop-Tarts bowl. Nothing to be explained there.
(Video: ESPN via @ByPJGreen/X)
Alex’s 3 must-watch bowl games
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Miami vs. Iowa State, Dec. 28 at 3:30 p.m.
Akheem Mesidor (Ottawa), Miami DL
Isaiah Thomas (Toronto), Miami DB
Nino Francavilla (Toronto), Miami OL
Rate Bowl: Rutgers vs. Kansas State, Dec. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
Antwan Raymond (Montreal), Rutgers RB
Dariel Djabome (Longueuil, Que.), Rutgers LB
Djibril Abdou Rahman (Montreal), Rutgers DL
Farell Gnago (Montreal), Rutgers DL
Tyclean Luman (Montreal), Rutgers DL
Tycoolhill Luman (Montreal), Rutgers DL
Wesley Bailey (Ottawa), Rutgers DL
DirecTV Holiday Bowl: Syracuse vs. Washington State, Dec. 27 at 8 p.m.
Isaiah Hastings (Toronto), Syracuse DL
Vito Shevchenko (Vancouver), Syracuse OL
Evans Chuba (Montreal), Washington State QB
Ryan Harris (Vancouver), Washington State K
READ | For a full breakdown, and clips, of the top Canadian CFB storylines this week, look at my latest Canuck U report for FanSided’s Saturday Blitz:
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 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
U Sports football is covered by the media 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 up until the early 2010s.