Canuck U: Rourke vs. Notre Dame, 6 Canadians in FCS semis and 2 win bowl games this weekend

After waiting 20 days since its last game, Indiana and its star Canadian quarterback, Kurtis Rourke, will kick off the College Football Playoff on Friday night.

Indiana will play Notre Dame; a matchup not seen since 1991.

The Hoosiers haven’t beat the Fighting Irish since 1950. Notre Dame also has the edge in number of Canadians on the roster, with three on the defensive line — Armel Mukam, Sean Sevillano and Devan Houstan — although none have made significant impacts this season.

How does Oakville, Ontario’s finest stack up against this year’s Notre Dame defense?

This season, America found out about how good a Canadian arm can be. Rourke leads all CFP starting QBs (minimum 120 dropbacks) with 9.8 yards per attempt, a 126.9 NFL passer rating, and both major Pro Football Focus QB grades — 91.0 offense grade and 91.8 pass grade. 

He’s also in the top three among the same list of players in touchdowns per game (2.45), TD to interception ratio (6.8), INTs per game (0.36), yards per game (257), first downs per game (13) and completion percentage (70.1%).

But Notre Dame’s defense won’t be an easy opener. Highlighted by safety Xavier Watts and defensive lineman Rylie Mills, the Fighting Irish boast the third-least points allowed (163) in the FBS.

Watts has recorded five interceptions, a 53.6 reception per target percentage, zero offensive TDs allowed and is PFF’s third-highest-ranked CFP safety for coverage grades (89.3).

Mills has seven sacks, five QB hits, 21 hurries and boasts an 82.6 PFF pass rush grade, which is good enough for second among CFP defensive linemen.

Notre Dame defensive line, as a whole, wasn't jump-off-the-page great. It was tied with Marshall for PFF's 24th-highest-graded PFF pass rush (80.5). But Ohio State, which sacked Rourke five times in Indiana's only loss this season, also wasn't in the top 15, as the Buckeyes were tied with SMU as PFF's 18th-highest-graded pass rush (81.7).

With pass blocking being a vulnerability for Indiana — PFF's 36th-highest pass block grade (75.6) — Notre Dame will look to capitalize with a strong rush from Mills, and Watts taking advantage of any errant throws caused by pressure.

Darius McKenzie, Success Chikezie win opening bowl games

Darius McKenzie and South Alabama won the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl on Saturday night, defeating Western Michigan, 30-23. McKenzie, a linebacker from Ottawa, Ontario, made four tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss.

McKenzie finished his 2024 campaign with 72 tackles, 21 more than the 51 combined tackles he had from 2021 to 2023 when he was playing at Maine.

Success Chikezie’s Jackson State kicked off bowl season on Saturday afternoon with an HBCU national championship victory over SC State, 28-7. Chikezie, an offensive lineman also from Canada’s capital city, didn’t get any action in the game.

Ethan Vibert, Noah St-Juste’s South Dakota State inching closer to back-to-back FCS titles

Canadians Ethan Vibert and Noah St-Juste moved on to the FCS national semifinals in South Dakota State’s 55-14 thumping of Incarnate Word on Saturday.

South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski enjoyed a zero-sack game, as Vibert — the Jackrabbits’ starting left guard from Regina, Saskatchewan — and the rest of the offensive line cleared the way for seven total TDs.

South Dakota State will play North Dakota State this Saturday for a right to play in the FCS national championship game. The Jackrabbits have won the title the last two years and are looking to be the second school to three-peat — North Dakota State has done it twice in the last 15 years, including a five-year run from 2011 to 2015.

3 South Dakota Canadians set to face Rohan Jones’ Montana state in FCS semis

Because South Dakota and Montana State both won their games this past weekend, at least one Canadian will make it through to the FCS national title game.

South Dakota beat UC Davis, 35-21, and three Canadians are now in the semifinals. Defensive linemen Carter Hooper and Chris Dixon each registered a tackle. Hooper also had a pass breakup in the quarterfinal victory. Tristan Michaud, , did not record a stat.

Rohan Jones stayed on the injury report for the third straight week, but his Montana State team still pushed through on Friday without its Canadian offensive weapon from Montreal, Quebec. The Bobcats blew out Idaho, 52-19.

Idaho’s Canadian DL Aamarii Notice, from Toronto, Ontario, made a tackle, finishing his 2024 season with 24. Notice has entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining, he announced Monday on X.

Montana State and South Dakota will face each other on Saturday.

Jett Elad, UNLV in Art of Sport Bowl

UNLV DB Jett Elad, from Mississauga, Ontario, will close out his 2024 season playing against California in the Art of Sport Bowl on Wednesday night at SoFi Stadium. UNLV (10-3) finished second in the Mountain West after falling to Boise State in the conference championship game almost two weeks ago. 

Cal (6-6) was an ACC bottom-feeder, ending the regular season with just two in-conference wins.

Elad had 25 “stops” — a PFF stat: tackles that constitute a failure for the offense — this season, which was third-most among Mountain West safeties and one more than Boise State safety and fellow Canadian Ty Benefield.

4 Canadians on rosters in upcoming non-CFP bowl games

There are four Canadians listed on rosters for teams playing in four bowl games from Wednesday until Monday. More bowl game lists with Canadians will be featured in next week’s Canuck U.

• Callum Wither (Mississauga, Ontario), Ohio QB: StaffDNA Cure Bowl, Friday, 12 p.m. ET
• Andrew Goodman (Montreal, Quebec), Tulane LS: Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, Friday, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Malick Meiga (Montreal, Quebec), Coastal Carolina WR: Myrtle Beach Bowl, Monday, 11 a.m. ET
• Cyrus McGarrell (Windsor, Ontario), Northern Illinois S: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Monday, 2:30 pm. ET