Saturday provides full-circle moment for Purdue's Joey Tanona in South Bend

Purdue’s Joey Tanona was supposed to call Notre Dame Stadium home. The former Fighting Irish offensive linemen went to South Bend as a touted four-star recruit out of Zionsville (Ind.), poised to become a key cog along the always stout Notre Dame offensive line.

Those plans took a turn when the well-chronicled car accident put a halt to his promising career before it got started, shortly after arriving on campus as an early-enrollee in the winter of 2022. Tanona remained at Notre Dame as a student before entering the transfer portal prior to last season, but never attended a game while on campus.

South Bend was going to be the place where Tanona made an impact with the Irish, like three of his class of 2022 mates, Ashton Craig, Billy Schrauth and Aamil Wagner, all of whom have carved out roles as starters. Tanona, too, is a starter, but will now make his way to Notre Dame as a member of the opposition, as the Boilermakers travel north for the 89th iteration of The Shillelagh Trophy Game.

Saturday marks a full-circle moment of sorts for Tanona, who was unsure he would ever play football again just a few years ago, but will now be making his first trip back to South Bend since his departure.

“A few years ago, I never thought this would be the situation that I’d be playing back there, but, you know, I’m glad this is the situation now and couldn’t be more blessed,” Tanona said on Wednesday.

“It was always just in the back of my mind, like I wanted to come back and I was always trying to stay in shape and trying to just be ready. And it was always just in the back of my mind, and finally got that opportunity to come here,” Tanona said.

Getting back onto the field was always the goal for Tanona and his golden opportunity came just up the road from where he played his high school football in Zionsville. The Boilermakers provided a chance for Tanona to get back in the game and had a familiar face to help in the process, his old high school teammate, Gus Hartwig.

The stars aligned for Tanona’s return to football in West Lafayette, where he had his sights set once entering the transfer portal. There were no other schools in his consideration besides the Boilermakers.

Despite the feel good story of his return, Tanona is now looking at Saturday as just another game for he and the Boilermakers, who have a tall task ahead of them in the Notre Dame defensive front and looking to take a step forward as an offensive line unit.

“I mean going through my head right now, it’s just preparing. You know, I’m not really treating it like it’s anything more special than it is. It’s another game. It’s just kind of, focus on my preparation and our team’s preparation, and going in there and doing what we do,” Tanona said.

Another tough battle lies ahead for the Boilermakers’ offensive line, coming on the heels of its matchup against USC last week. The Trojans forced 21 pressures and sacked quarterback Ryan Browne five times in Purdue’s 33-17 loss, who has been under pressure on 37 if his 102 drop backs this season.

“Obviously we just gotta do better protecting. We gotta keep Ryan (Browne) off the ground and it’s something we take pride in as a group, and that was completely unacceptable from us. [It] starts with me, and we gotta fix that,” Tanona said.

Tanona has been labeled as perhaps the top contributor for Vance Vice’s unit and has lived up to that billing through three games, holding the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any Boilermaker offensive lineman. Notre Dame has just one sack to its name across losses to Miami and Texas A&M, but the Irish are known for their tough defensive fronts, posing another challenge to a Purdue line that has been shaky this season.

MORE: Purdue punter Jack McCallister’s silver cleats have produced golden results | Opponent view: Notre Dame | The 3-2-1: Deciphering disconcerting signals, genesis of ‘Nitro,’ maturation of a QB and more | Potential turning into production for Purdue’s Nitro Tuggle | Barry Odom, Purdue brace for test at tradition-rich Notre Dame | First Look: Notre Dame | First and 10: Purdue at Notre Dame