Two Canadians will play critical roles in the Big Ten Football Championship Game on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
No. 4-ranked Iowa takes on No. 5 Michigan State with a conference title and spot in the College Football Playoff on the line. The Hawkeyes enter the game 12-0 for the first time in school history and make their first Big Ten title game appearance. The Spartans enter with an 11-1 record.
Iowa features Toronto, Ont., native Tevaun Smith at receiver. The playmaker missed three games with a knee injury in the middle part of the season, but recorded 25 receptions for 436 yards and two touchdowns in nine games. He has Iowa’s most explosive offensive play in 2015, an 81-yard catch-and-run score.
Smith has caught the eye of scouts on both sides of the border. He’s the top rated player eligible for the 2016 Canadian Draft. At six-foot-two, 205 pounds, the Chaminade High School grad has size to go with legitimate 4.4-second 40-yard speed. Those attributes have helped Smith draw NFL interest.
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Lining up on the other side of the ball on Saturday for the Spartans will be Arjen Colquhoun from Windsor, Ont. Standing six-foot-one, he starts at cornerback for Michigan State and in 12 games he’s piled up 35 total tackles, 11 passes defended, nine pass break-ups, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. The fifth-year senior has emerged as the Spartans leader in the secondary.
Coming into the NCAA, Colquhoun ran a hand-timed 4.3 40-yard dash, which tells you he has the speed to play defensive back. The Herman Secondary School graduate checked in at No. 3 on the latest CFL Scouting Bureau list of draft-eligible prospects. With a combination of the coverage ability and height the NFL looks for in cover men these days he’s garnered the attention of scouts.
On Saturday night, Smith and Colquhoun should see a lot of each other when Iowa has the football and there’s a good chance one of those two Canadians could make a play that turns the game.