Notre Dame Football: Defensive Player of the Game Versus Ball State

You guessed it–Notre Dame Football star linebacker Te’von Coney takes home my Defensive Player of the Game honors for this Saturday’s game against Ball State.

Well, first off, what an odd game. I got the chance to attend the Notre Dame vs. Ball State game in South Bend this past Saturday and I completely expected Notre Dame to come out and bully Ball State.

And I was right! At least for the first drive.

Sitting in the Ball State student section (I attend Ball State–don’t kill me) everyone thought the game was gonna be a whooping when Notre Dame drove down the length of the field and scored in just under two minutes. Talk about a textbook drive. But after that first drive, the offense was stalled for quite a while.

The game became competitive (oddly), and the strength of the Notre Dame defense shone through. It’s becoming a bit of a pattern this season: The Irish come out strong and very impressively, and then seem to hit a wall after the first drive or two.

However, there’s always one guy you can rely on that will be consistently great: Te’von Coney. I’ll put it this way: the dude is a freak. Labeled the “Second coming of Jaylon Smith,” Coney has been the anchor of the Notre Dame defense. Against Ball State, Coney racked up 14 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, and a QB hurry.

What a performance.

Coney’s performance may be overlooked because of the game Jalen Elliott had, but make no mistake, Coney was without a doubt Notre Dame’s defensive player of the week. He probably could be every week, but I gotta change it up to keep everyone guessing, you know?

In all seriousness, though, expect to see these kind of performances from Te’von Coney all year long. He’s been doing this kind of stuff all throughout his Notre Dame career. The man was nearly guaranteed to be drafted this year, but came back to finish his time at Notre Dame and get his degree.

If Coney continues to play like he has been–and I have no doubts that he will–watch out for him in the NFL next year. Coney is NFL quality and will be playing on Sundays very soon.