Manti Te’o Collecting Weekly Awards
Notre Dame senior linebacker Manti Te’o turned in one of the most dominating performances of his career on Saturday in Notre Dame’s 13-6 win over Michigan and so far this week the Irish captain is getting recognized for it. Te’o was named both the Lott Impact Player of the Week and the Chuck Bednarik Player of the Week for his efforts.
Te’o was at his absolute best on Saturday night against rival Michigan picking up his second and third interceptions on the season while directly causing another pair of interceptions by Bennett Jackson and Nicky Baratti thanks to pressure applied to Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson and running back Vincent Smith.
The Notre Dame defense, lef by Te’o shut down a Michigan offense that had terrorized the Irish defense over the past three season keeping them out of the end-zone – something the Notre Dame defense has now done in back to back games against ranked opponents.
Thanks for Te’o’s Herculean performance, he picked up both player of the week honors and in the case of the Lott Award doing so for the second week in a row. All of this after Te’o went through the off-field tragedy of losing both his grandmother and girlfriend within a 24-hour period two weeks ago. Despite the losses, Te’o has remained with his team and turned in back to back performances that will have Irish fans talking for a long time.
Through four games, the Notre Dame defense, led by Te’o, has surrendered just 36 points – the fewest they have allowed through four games at the start of a season since 1976. Te’o’s performance and leadership have also started to garner the Hawaiian native some Heisman buzz as well with both ESPN and Sports Illustrated listing the star linebacker among their top 10 candidates at this early juncture in the season.
So far this season, Te’o has collected 38 tackles (2 for loss), 3 interceptions, and 2 fumble recoveries – all of this after coming into the season without ever having recorded an interception in his career.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Bj,
The way to beat Standford is a blueprint given by Oregon.BK has the personnel to spread the field, short passes and a personnel group oc Toma, Jones, Neal and Riddick. Make Standford play in space and eliminate their pass rush with short passes. Oregon beats them every year using this philosophy. They don’t have the spead to play in space. That’s how you beat Oregon.
wood was named a hesiman possibility until he screwed himself and the entire team, obvioulsy still in kelly’s dog house, he has to break out agnst stanford
if they want to beat stanford they have to score
“The Cardinal defense has been outstanding, especially against the run. Its front seven is among the best in the country, and its depth and talent at linebacker is unmatched. Stanford ranks third nationally in run defense. USC rushed for just 26 yards against the Cardinal, and that included a meaningless 30-yard run by Curtis McNeal on the final play of the first half. Pass defense is still the Cardinal’s defensive weakness, but cornerbacks Terrence Brown and Barry Browning have improved since last season and new safeties Ed Reynolds and Jordan Richards have been better than expected. Reynolds and Richards already have combined for five interceptions, two more than the Cardinal’s talented safety duo of Delano Howell and Michael Thomas had all of last season.”
More Advice: Forget you!
Awards are very much a part of the college game. They are well earned and well deserved.They remind us of the great players and great coaches for whom they are named after.
They help motivate players and team-mates alike.
They also have a positive influence for ND when it comes to recruiting.
I, like many ND fans, are very proud to have a classy, upstanding, and humble young man representing the University, and can think of few better to do so.
Last year he took a good bit of flack for not putting up turnovers, but few remember he played hurt most of the year.
He took the criticism with class, has earned his recognition, and gives the ND fans a hero figure that they deserve to have like any other school.
There is a young kid out there somewhere who is destin to become the next great linebacker in college football.
He is watching Manti Te’o play at ND and telling himself “That’s who I want to be, and that’s where I want to play”
And that is a very good thing for everyone!
where is the offense? why is our heisman candidate still on the bench? duh? kelly is nuts
bj,
Let me help you get on the same page as the rest of the college football loving world!
Heisman Watch
We hear you, Notre Dame fans. More specifically, we see what you see: Manti Te’o is a very good football player.
How good? He is the highest-ranked defensive player on the Heisman list.
West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith is No. 1 overall.
Te’o received a pair of
fourth-place votes, along with three fifth-place votes.
1) EJ Manuel, FSU
2) Geno Smith, WVU
3) Marqise Lee, USC
4) Collin Klein, Kansas State
5) Manti Te’o, Notre Dame
Advice: Forget the awards!
He’s playing like a man-beast this season. He deserves this recognition.
After OU goes down not before!
Mr. Brown, why not before?
This is not a ME kid. He is one of the most HUMBLE young men I have seen in sports.
Do you think he cares about being a star??
Amen joey d,
Te’o by-passed the NFL this year for his love of ND. Te’o deserves ALL the awards he can pile up during the season! Period!
Here come the Irish!