Junior Tuihalamaka Taking Full Advantage of His Opportunity

At the start of the season, defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka was the third-string Viper. Fast forward four months, he had the game of his life in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia and has become an integral piece to the Notre Dame defense. 

The Granada Hills, California native is just the latest example from a long list of guys who have stepped up and excelled when given the opportunity to be on the field. 

“I can say for sure that was definitely a moment for me,” Tuihalamaka said. “Knowing all my hard work I've been doing throughout the past two years and throughout this whole season, just just never getting complacent and knowing my time will come.” 

Starting the season as a third-stringer, many in his position may have thought to move on and enter into the portal — the vast majority probably would have. Tuihalamaka stayed and continued to work towards what he believed he was capable of — which proved to be a lot. He’s having a career year with 30 total tackles and three sacks. 

“I just wish that you could show everybody in your program what the future is when we start,” Freeman said. “Junior is a great example that I'm going to talk about now, but could be utilized for so many guys in our program that, yeah, after fall camp, he was the third Viper, and he worked and worked. I'm sure there was probably people in his ear saying, ‘Maybe you want to redshirt and go into the portal.’

“And he just is committed to this place, committing to getting better and working, not worrying about how many plays he's playing. And now you're talking about the biggest games of the year, this dude is making game changing plays.” 

Another reason for his staying was his deep rooted faith, both in God and in his love for his team. 

“My faith in Jesus Christ has only strengthened throughout these past two years,” Tuihalamaka said. “Obviously, there's times where I could have doubt of what's going on in my life, but he's my anchor and everything I do. 

“I love this team, from the D-line to the linebackers, even offensive players to the coaches, even the university, it means everything to me, the education I can get from it.” 

That faith paid off in last week’s Sugar Bowl as Tuihalamaka tallied four tackles, including a sack. But his biggest play came late in the second quarter when he scooped up a loose ball courtesy of RJ Oben’s strip sack on Gunnar Stockton. The recovery ultimately set up the game-winning touchdown to Beaux Collins. 

“It’s kind of like see ball, get ball,” Tuihalamaka said. “We're trying to be plus two. So I'm always looking for the ball, always trying to take advantage of either making a fumble or a fumble recovery, interception. 

“Every game, our goal is being plus two, two plus turnovers more than the other team. We always talk about it and make sure it's instilled in us that if we do get a fumble or interception anything, it's a big takeaway not just for ourselves, but getting another chance for the offense to get back on that field.” 

Looking ahead to Penn State, Tuihalamaka will once again have to play a key role if the Irish want to advance to the National Championship. Especially with the Nittany Lions potent backfield combination of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. 

“They’re a great running scheme team,” Tuihalamaka said. “If you can't stop the run, they're gonna just keep running it. But if you do stop the run, they obviously have a great quarterback, so we just got to capitalize on being plus two in everything we do.” 

But preparing for a dangerous backfield becomes a whole lot easier when you have one of your own. Tuihalamaka has seen what a deadly running back combo looks like everyday in practice, going up against Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. 

“It helps tremendously,” Tuihalamaka said. “You can see J Love is obviously a different type of running back, but JD is also a great running back, but honestly, I think we have the two best running backs in the country. So if we can stop them in practice, we can stop anyone else.”  

So, as Tuihalamaka takes the field in the Orange Bowl this Thursday he may need to pull out yet another big play for the Irish, and if last week, and this whole season, showed anything, Tuihalamaka will be ready. 

“I love him,” Freeman said. “I love the example that he sets for our entire program.”