Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Urzua hoping improvements show against FAU
9/28/2017 4:00:00 PM | Football
Sophomore coming off career-best game
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Though he only lasted through the first two drives, last year's regular-season finale against Florida Atlantic was possibly the most important game of quarterback John Urzua's Middle Tennessee career.
Urzua was lost for the remainder of the game when a hard hit left him concussed during the Blue Raiders' second drive in the first quarter.
The hit and concussion helped show Urzua he had to build on his slight frame and his awareness if he wanted to step in again should starter Brent Stockstill suffer another injury.
History repeated itself this season after MT's Week 2 contest against Syracuse. It was announced before the matchup with Minnesota the next week that Stockstill wouldn't dress for the game, and he's now missed two weeks and could miss more going further.
Luckily for the Raiders, Urzua appears to have grown both physically and mentally, and is readying for another shot at taking down the Owls on Saturday.
"His fundamentals are better in game conditions," offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said. "They're still not perfect … but his toughness has always been good and now it's better, and his feel for the game on game day is better. That's a big deal, because you don't get good feel on game day until you actually play."
In 2016's matchup with FAU, Urzua went into the game on a high after tossing a career-best four touchdowns in a 38-31 road win over Charlotte the week prior.
He's in a similar situation this time around. Urzua is coming off maybe his best career game in Week 4 against Bowling Green. He set career highs with a 75-percent completion percentage (24-32) and 290 passing yards, and connected on two passing TDs.
The similarities between the Urzua the Owls saw just six games ago and the one they'll see Saturday just about stop there.
This year's version of the 6-foot-3 Suwannee, Georgia, native weighs around 190 pounds, 20 more than he was last November. He's also adding more confidence and experience to his bigger frame, thanks in part to being able to take first-team reps for the entirety of spring and summer practices while Stockstill was recovering from offseason surgery.
"Obviously, all the experience I can get helps," Urzua said. "Whenever you can have the opportunity to kind of fill in and take over the leadership role, that always helps.
"I came [to MT] at about 162, and now I'm at about 192. I think that's helped tremendously. I've gotten a little faster because I've put on some muscle in my legs, and I've gotten a lot stronger. I'm definitely more confident because I know if I get hit I probably won't get broken in half."
No one said being a backup quarterback is easy, especially when they're forced to surprisingly take the field due to an injury to the starter.
It certainly hasn't been a cake walk for Urzua, either. Last season, he had to take the reins of the offense in the middle of the Blue Raiders' Conference USA stretch. This year, his first start of the season came against Minnesota and its nationally fifth-ranked defense.
Urzua is rather used to it, though. Not only has he supplanted Stockstill twice without warning, but he also had to replace the starter for two games as a junior at North Gwinnett High School.
"It's definitely not easy," he said. "I don't think you're ever really fully prepared for that. You can prepare as much as you can for it mentally and physically, but it's a situation that's not expected."
As Urzua prepares on Friday night to lead the Blue Raiders to what could be their 10th win in a row over FAU on Saturday, he'll do so with an eye on what's happening at his high school alma mater, where another Urzua is also filling in at QB due to an injured starter.
North Gwinnett found itself in an all-too-familiar position in its second game of the season on Aug. 25 when starter Cade Fortin went down with an injury and senior Jimmy Urzua, John's little brother, stepped in and led the team to a victory.
The younger Urzua is doing the best impression of his older brother. The Bulldogs haven't lost since he's taken over and are now 4-1 on the season.
"It's a great opportunity for him," John Urzua said, "and personally, I think he's a better player than I am. I'm just really happy for him that he's gotten this opportunity to play."
If Jimmy needs any advice on how to step in and lead a team after an injury to its starting quarterback, he knows who to ask. His older brother has gotten pretty good at it at Middle Tennessee, though there are still plenty of things the redshirt sophomore needs to work on.
John Urzua has turned the ball over 13 times (11 INTs) in seven career games, a stat he hopes improves as he gets more game experience.
A good, clean outing against FAU could go a long way in that endeavor.
"That's my main focus this week is to be smart with the football," he said. "It's really just mental focus and pre-snap understanding of the scheme and concept to get an idea of what the defense is doing. The rest is just responding … it's definitely tough, but I have great receivers and running backs around me that I have confidence in."
Urzua was lost for the remainder of the game when a hard hit left him concussed during the Blue Raiders' second drive in the first quarter.
The hit and concussion helped show Urzua he had to build on his slight frame and his awareness if he wanted to step in again should starter Brent Stockstill suffer another injury.
History repeated itself this season after MT's Week 2 contest against Syracuse. It was announced before the matchup with Minnesota the next week that Stockstill wouldn't dress for the game, and he's now missed two weeks and could miss more going further.
Luckily for the Raiders, Urzua appears to have grown both physically and mentally, and is readying for another shot at taking down the Owls on Saturday.
"His fundamentals are better in game conditions," offensive coordinator Tony Franklin said. "They're still not perfect … but his toughness has always been good and now it's better, and his feel for the game on game day is better. That's a big deal, because you don't get good feel on game day until you actually play."
In 2016's matchup with FAU, Urzua went into the game on a high after tossing a career-best four touchdowns in a 38-31 road win over Charlotte the week prior.
He's in a similar situation this time around. Urzua is coming off maybe his best career game in Week 4 against Bowling Green. He set career highs with a 75-percent completion percentage (24-32) and 290 passing yards, and connected on two passing TDs.
The similarities between the Urzua the Owls saw just six games ago and the one they'll see Saturday just about stop there.
This year's version of the 6-foot-3 Suwannee, Georgia, native weighs around 190 pounds, 20 more than he was last November. He's also adding more confidence and experience to his bigger frame, thanks in part to being able to take first-team reps for the entirety of spring and summer practices while Stockstill was recovering from offseason surgery.
"Obviously, all the experience I can get helps," Urzua said. "Whenever you can have the opportunity to kind of fill in and take over the leadership role, that always helps.
"I came [to MT] at about 162, and now I'm at about 192. I think that's helped tremendously. I've gotten a little faster because I've put on some muscle in my legs, and I've gotten a lot stronger. I'm definitely more confident because I know if I get hit I probably won't get broken in half."
No one said being a backup quarterback is easy, especially when they're forced to surprisingly take the field due to an injury to the starter.
It certainly hasn't been a cake walk for Urzua, either. Last season, he had to take the reins of the offense in the middle of the Blue Raiders' Conference USA stretch. This year, his first start of the season came against Minnesota and its nationally fifth-ranked defense.
Urzua is rather used to it, though. Not only has he supplanted Stockstill twice without warning, but he also had to replace the starter for two games as a junior at North Gwinnett High School.
"It's definitely not easy," he said. "I don't think you're ever really fully prepared for that. You can prepare as much as you can for it mentally and physically, but it's a situation that's not expected."
As Urzua prepares on Friday night to lead the Blue Raiders to what could be their 10th win in a row over FAU on Saturday, he'll do so with an eye on what's happening at his high school alma mater, where another Urzua is also filling in at QB due to an injured starter.
North Gwinnett found itself in an all-too-familiar position in its second game of the season on Aug. 25 when starter Cade Fortin went down with an injury and senior Jimmy Urzua, John's little brother, stepped in and led the team to a victory.
The younger Urzua is doing the best impression of his older brother. The Bulldogs haven't lost since he's taken over and are now 4-1 on the season.
"It's a great opportunity for him," John Urzua said, "and personally, I think he's a better player than I am. I'm just really happy for him that he's gotten this opportunity to play."
If Jimmy needs any advice on how to step in and lead a team after an injury to its starting quarterback, he knows who to ask. His older brother has gotten pretty good at it at Middle Tennessee, though there are still plenty of things the redshirt sophomore needs to work on.
John Urzua has turned the ball over 13 times (11 INTs) in seven career games, a stat he hopes improves as he gets more game experience.
A good, clean outing against FAU could go a long way in that endeavor.
"That's my main focus this week is to be smart with the football," he said. "It's really just mental focus and pre-snap understanding of the scheme and concept to get an idea of what the defense is doing. The rest is just responding … it's definitely tough, but I have great receivers and running backs around me that I have confidence in."
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