Bowling Green State University Athletics
Feature on BGSU Center, Jon Mazur
October 28, 2002 | Football
Oct. 28, 2002
By JACK CARLE, Sentinel Sports Editor
Earning the reputation of being a strong practice player is not always a good thing.
Many times athletes look good in practice, but don't carry that performance over into games.
Jon Mazur is the epitome of a player who practices well and continues that effort on the field. A 6-foot-2, 290 pound, fifth-year senior for the Bowling Green Falcons, Mazur is his third season as a starter on the offensive line. Of his 28 career starts, 21 have been at center.
He'll start there again Saturday when the Falcons, 6-0 overall and ranked in the Top 25 in both major polls, host Ball State. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. in Perry Stadium.
"Jon Mazur gives us leadership," said Greg Studrawa, BG's assistant coach who works with the guards and centers on the offensive line. "He's the kind of guy who leads by example; by the way he plays and more so by how he practices. He has practiced hard from the day we got here. He's done nothing but impress us by the way he practices and that translates over into games," Studrawa added. "The rest of our kids see how he practices and how he plays on Saturdays."
Because of his hard work, Mazur has developed into one of the top centers in the country. He's been nominated for the Dave Rimington Award, named for the former Nebraska standout, which goes to the top center in the nation.
"I was really surprised and honored to be on that list and to be considered," Mazur said. "It's nice to be considered for something like that. But I really want the team to be successful. "To be honest, I just want to go out each week and play to the best of my ability and help this team win football games. If I can get a championship ring, that's the best award I could ever get."
Before coming to BG, Studrawa coached two centers who were very successful, including one who had a 13-year career in the Canadian Football League. He said Mazur is better than either one of those players.
"He is one of the best centers in the country, no question in my mind," Studrawa said.
A large part of Mazur's responsibility is making the blocking calls for the line, something he enjoys doing.
"I'm the kind of person, that if it has to be given to somebody, I want it to be me. I'm glad to have it," Mazur said about the blocking call assignment. "Every one of the guys on the line is capable of carrying that responsibility... It's just me being in the middle gives me the best chance to see the defense and make those calls. "You can't be perfect. If I make the wrong call, at least we're on the same page."
Studrawa knows the value of having an experienced player, such as Mazur, making the line calls.
"He is the coach out on the field for me," Studrawa said about Mazur, one of four BG captains this season. "When they change a defense and we need to change a blocking scheme on the run, we don't have to wait until the series is over. Jon makes those changes before the next play is run. "He is a student of the game. He knows our offense inside and out."
Although it sounds simple, the other major part of Mazur's job is snapping the ball to the quarterback. With BG running a spread offense under second-year head coach Urban Meyer, the majority of the plays are coming out of the shotgun, which requires a pin-point snap.
"The quarterbacks are saying, that snap was a little high, that snap was a little low," Mazur said. "I say I'm in the shotgun 80 times a game. If you complete 60 percent of your passes, you had a great game. I've got to complete 100 percent of mine."
Mazur is on target the majority of the time, Studrawa said. "In our offense with the shotgun, the running game is hard to do," Studrawa said. "Those snaps have to be quick and right on the money so our quarterback is not all over the place trying to get it and hand it off."In some places where I've been, that's been a headache. Here it's been an afterthought."
For Mazur, practicing and playing hard are just the way he goes about things. He strives to be successful on the field, in the classroom and in life. Mazur wants to be a high school physical education teacher. He's currently a pre-service teacher (formerly called methods teaching) at Perrysburg Junior High School; he has also been one at St. Aloysius in BG. He plans to complete his student teaching next semester.
"He takes pride in every single thing that he does and he wants to be the best," Studrawa said.
