| Junior Tafuna | |
| School: | Utah Utes |
| Currentnumber: | 58 |
| Currentposition: | Defensive tackle |
| Class: | Senior |
| Major: | Economics |
| Heightft: | 6 |
| Heightin: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 308 |
| Bowlgames: | |
| Highlights: |
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| Highschool: | Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) |
| Pastschools: |
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| Espn: | 4695607 |
Timote "Junior" Maile Tafuna is an American football defensive tackle for the Utah Utes.
Tafuna attended high school at Bingham. Coming out of high school, Tafuna was rated as a three star recruit, where he committed to play college football for the Utah Utes.[1] [2]
In Tafuna's first collegiate season in 2020, he did not appear in any games for the Utes.[3] In week eleven of the 2021 season, Tafuna notched a career high nine tackles in a win over Arizona.[4] During the 2021 season, Tafuna had a breakout season totaling 33 tackles with five and a half being for a loss, four and a half sacks, a fumble recovery, and a pass deflection.[5] For his performance on the 2021 season, Tafuna was named the PAC-12 defensive freshman of the year and was named second team all PAC-12.[6] [7] In the 2022 season, Tafuna started in all 14 games, notching 27 tackles with three and a half being for a loss, a sack, an interception, and a pass deflection, while once again being named second team all PAC-12.[8] In week ten of the 2023 season, Tafuna recorded his first career forced fumble, which he also recovered against Oregon.[9] In the 2023 season, Tafuna tallied 17 tackles with three being for a loss, a sack and a half, two pass deflections, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.[10]