ShareThisBy PATRICK KINAHAN
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Two national championships and possibly four league titles _ the mind can do wonders when it wanders.
While most college football players only fantasize of such accomplishments, Jake Kuresa could have lived at least some of them.
As one of the country's top recruits five years ago, Kuresa had his pick of colleges. The difficult part was making a final choice.
After a trip to Oregon, he was sold on the Ducks. Problem was, same thing happened a week later after visiting Southern California.
The difference is, he gave USC and offensive coordinator Norm Chow an oral commitment to sign the following February. He was going to join the program that would play for the next three national championships and win 27 consecutive Pac-10 games, until losing last week.
But a promise to his parents wiped out all that winning. David and Suzanne Kuresa _ whose brother, Marty Haws, was a basketball star at Brigham Young almost 20 years ago _ wanted her son to visit BYU, which desperately wanted the massive offensive and defensive lineman.
One trip south changed his heart.
"When I took my trip to BYU, I was just surprised," he said. "It was a whole different type of atmosphere, a whole different kind of trip. I fell in love with the area and the kind of people that were here."
BYU quickly returned the love, installing Kuresa as a starting offensive lineman the season after he redshirted. For four years, he has been among the team's most popular players.
Hard for him to imagine playing only two more games in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"BYU, up to this point, has been my life," he said. "This is my fifth year being here, and it's kind of become what I know. The routine has become what I know. To think it's going to change soon is hard to comprehend, but at the same time, it makes me want to leave on a good note after what we've been through as seniors."
Up until this season, Kuresa's football experience has been disappointing. For three years, the program went 15-20 and lost its only bowl appearance.
At the time he committed, BYU was nationally ranked and undefeated.
"It was unfortunate," he said. "I was a big-time recruit; I was expecting to come to a big-time program and win conference championships.
"It's been very disappointing. I won in high school, and I expected to do the same thing here."
Alas, all is not lost. In Kuresa's final year, the Cougars (6-2, 4-0) are marching toward a conference championship.
With four games left, including Saturday at Colorado State, BYU leads the Mountain West by two games. Even if the Cougars crash down the stretch, which doesn't seem likely, Kuresa still will have a bright future in football.
Scouts and coaches believe he has NFL potential. To aid his cause, Kuresa has played center, guard and tackle in college.
"He's got every athletic attribute to really be an NFL player," said BYU assistant coach Lance Reynolds, a former Cougar offensive lineman who played in the NFL.
It wasn't always that way. After switching sides of the ball during his redshirt season, Kuresa needed time to adjust to rigors of college football.
In other words, he didn't work hard enough.
"Jake has come as far as any player I've ever coached in terms of his work ethic, toughness, leadership _ all the intangibles," said BYU offensive line coach Jeff Grimes. "He would be the first to tell you he probably wasn't the hardest worker. But he's come so far in that regard. I don't think a guy can be a leader if he's not a hard worker."
Always personable, he remains one of the program's most quotable linemen, Kuresa has grown into a team leader. Having respect from his teammates has allowed him to become an extension of the coaching staff.
