Ursua learns from missed opportunities

The circle of trust is about 8 inches in diameter.

After every football practice, University of Hawaii slotback John Ursua will stand about 6 feet from the JUGS machine, his thumbs and index fingers touching to form a circle. The idea is to catch every spiral spit at his head from the JUGS. The risk is that a missed catch could lead to a concussion-protocol test.

Ursua, of course, catches every pass. His hands are as reliable as, well, a JUGS machine.

“It was very disappointing for me,” said Ursua, who could not secure three of the 11 passes in which he was the primary target in the season-opening 51-31 loss to California in Australia. “That’s our No. 1 job. For me, catching should come natural, and the rest is the tough part. If I don’t catch it, I won’t get an opportunity to showcase what I can do. That was kind of challenging.”

Ursua finished with a team-high five catches for 70 yards. He averaged 4.2 post-catch yards.

But Ursua regrets two that got away, both mishandled when he did not focus fully.

“I took my eyes off a couple of those plays,” Ursua said. “I wish I could have those plays back. I think they could have busted and turned into something. I think I had a little space on both the drops I had.”

He could not secure a third pass thrown near his knees on a crossing pattern.

“That one was a little different,” Ursua said. “That one, with my momentum and speed, I could have caught it but I didn’t have the best opportunity to do anything with it.”

There also was a play when Ursua sprinted a couple of yards behind the secondary. A leaping defender tipped away a potential touchdown.

“I was right there,” Ursua said of the post route. “Ikaika (Woolsey) threw a decent ball over the middle. Me and Ikaika have practiced that one over and over again. But that one, due to no time in the pocket, he had to get rid of it.”

Head coach Nick Rolovich said the drops could be traced to Ursua’s long period away from the football field. Ursua, who was raised on Hawaii island, moved to Utah in high school. After graduating, he worked for a year, then spent two years on a church mission in France. He redshirted last year.

“My last high school game was in 2011,” Ursua said. “It’s been a little over four years since I even played. … To be in an atmosphere like that (opener), where it’s 60,000 people (in the stands), it was all new to me. I won’t use that as an excuse. But I definitely have to get my eye to the ball and catch it.”

For Ursua, the extra-curricular work begins with the JUGS.

“This is going to be the biggest weekend, the most important weekend of the season,” Ursua said of the road game against seventh-ranked Michigan. “This is the best team we’ll face. For me, I have to have the best practices we’ll have.”