University of Hawaii football player John Ursua made the cut.
Actually, two cuts.
Ursua was named one of 11 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver. The fourth-year junior is mostly aligned in the slot for the Rainbow Warriors.
“I heard he was really good,” Ursua said of Fred Biletnikoff, the Pro Football Hall of Famer for whom the award is named.
Ursua helped Kealakehe to a BIIF title as a freshman before transferring to Utah.
This past bye week, Ursua cut his long hair, except for a “little party in the back with the tail.”
“I felt it was a good time,” Ursua said. “I was tired of the hair in my face. I wanted to switch up my look. I had (the long hair) for about a year. It was time to get a change, look more professional.”
Whatever his appearance, Ursua has gained widespread attention this season. He is the national leader with 15 touchdown receptions. He is fourth nationally in receiving yards (1,161), sixth in receiving yards per game (105.5), and ninth in catches per game (7.2).
Ursua has maintained his production after fully recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee that kept him from playing in the Warriors’ final five games of the 2017 season.
“I give all the thanks to the trainers and doctor (Mark Crawford) who really took care of me and made sure I was capable to come back,” Ursua said. “It worked out perfect timing. I came back a week before fall camp (in July).”
Ursua made an easy adjustment to the Warriors’ increased emphasis of the run-and-shoot offense. Ursua said many of the run-and-shoot’s elements were used in last season’s three-wide schemes.
“We have a lot of carryover from last season, where some of the reads are the same,” Ursua said. “The coaches did a good job. (Pass-game coordinator Craig Stutzmann) did a great job sitting down with me during the summer and making sure I was understanding my rules and certain things I can do out of the slot.”
Stutzmann implored Ursua to go through the UH archives. Ursua said he viewed hours of videos of former UH slotbacks Kealoha Pilares, Greg Salas and Davone Bess.
“Every single day, I watched how they did their thing,” Ursua said. “You want to watch the successful guys who have had great careers at the University of Hawaii. It really came down to watching them, seeing how they do it and kind of doing that with my own style.”
Ursua, similar to past UH slotbacks, embraces running routes into the teeth of a defense.
“I love going across the middle,” Ursua said. “It seems like that would be the most congested area. But when you catch it there, it’s probably one of the best times to get into space. You make one guy miss, you can show off your speed and kind of show off your ability of making people miss. It’s a fun position in this offense.”
In recent years, Ursua said he has followed the New York Giants. “Growing up on the Big Island, you can kind of choose,” Ursua said. “You’re neutral. You can pick any team or state. I liked the Giants because of (recently retired) Victor Cruz. He really became one of the smaller slot receivers who exploded. That’s really when I became a Giants fan.”
Ursua said he now will study another former receiver.
“It would be good to know about him,” Ursua said of Biletnikoff.