Indiana quarterback Rourke earns Cornish Trophy as top Canadian in NCAA football

By The Canadian Press on December 23, 2024.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke plays against Ohio State during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Columbus, Ohio. Kurtis Rourke captured the '24 Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian playing football in the NCAA on Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Jay LaPrete

Indiana Quarterback Kurtis Rourke captured the ’24 Jon Cornish Trophy as the top Canadian playing football in the NCAA.

Rourke, of Oakville, Ont., finished first in voting for the award ahead of Montreal’s Dariel Djabome, a junior linebacker at Rutgers.

Stanford junior receiver Elic Ayomanor, last year’s winner, finished third ahead of Vancouver’s Ty Benefield (sophomore safety, Boise State) and Jett Elad of Mississauga, Ont., a senior safety at UNLV.

Cornish, of New Westminster, B.C., was a standout running back at Kansas who went on to have a decorated CFL career with the Calgary Stampeders (2007-15) before being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

Rourke joins his older brother, Nathan — now playing for the CFL’s B.C. Lions — as a Cornish Trophy winner as Nathan Rourke won the award in 2017-18 while at Ohio.

Kurtis Rourke, 24, transferred to Indiana last December from Ohio and led the school to an 11-2 record.

The Hoosiers’ season ended with a 27-17 loss to Notre Dame in the opening game of the expanded U.S. college football playoff bracket.

Rourke finished 20 of 33 passing for 215 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

On the season, Rourke completed 222 of 320 passes (69.4 per cent) for 3,042 yards with 29 touchdowns and five interceptions.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2024.