Christopher M. Zurbrugg (born August 10, 1964) is a former
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player. He played at the
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
position for the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
from 1984 to 1986. He was Michigan's starting quarterback in the last half of the 1984 season and led the Wolverines in the
1984 Holiday Bowl
The 1984 Holiday Bowl was one of the games that determined the College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS, national championship in college football for the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season, 1984 season. Played on Decembe ...
against the national champion
BYU Cougars
The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West ...
. In his second start for Michigan, Zurbrugg set a Michigan record for most passing yards in a game and tied the record with four touchdown passes in a game. Zurbrugg later became a high school teacher and football coach in
Alliance, Ohio
Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...
.
Early years
Zurbrugg grew up in
Alliance, Ohio
Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...
and graduated from
Alliance High School in 1983.
[ He accepted a football scholarship to attend the ]University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
University of Michigan
Zurbrugg became the starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman halfway through the season for the 1984 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1984 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1984 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 16th season under head coach Bo Schembechler, the Wolverines compiled a ...
. Jim Harbaugh
James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...
sustained a broken arm, and head coach Bo Schembechler
Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler Jr. ( ; April 1, 1929 – November 17, 2006) was an American football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1963 to 1968 and at the University of ...
turned to Zurbrugg to lead the Michigan offense. Schembechler noted that he had been reluctant to start Zurbrugg, because he had two cracked vertebrae in his back during the spring of 1984. In his first start on October 27, 1984, Zurbrugg rushed for 51 yards and scored a rushing touchdown in leading Michigan to a 26-18 win over Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
.[
In his second start, Zurbrugg broke the Michigan single-game record with 259 passing yards against ]Purdue
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
. (Zurbrugg's record was broken the following year by Harbaugh.) He threw four touchdown passes against Purdue, including three (to Triando Markray, Vince Bean, and Sim Nelson) in the final 4:08 of the game. His four touchdown passes against Purdue also tied Michigan's single game record for touchdown passes in a single game.[
The following week, Zurbrugg led Michigan to a 31-7 win over ]Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
. Zurbrugg completed 7 of 10 passes against Minnesota and scored on a passing touchdown to Sim Nelson and also ran for 41 yards and a touchdown.[ For the 1984 season, Zurbrugg completed 63 of 119 passes and 691 yards. In December 1984, Schembechler summed up Zurbrugg's performance: "He's a competitive kid, a smart kid; he just hasn't had a lot of work. He's played some decent football, but what he is a freshman. It hasn't been easy for him or us, but I think we can win the game he Holiday Bowlwith him."][
In the ]1984 Holiday Bowl
The 1984 Holiday Bowl was one of the games that determined the College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS, national championship in college football for the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season, 1984 season. Played on Decembe ...
, Zurbrugg completed 7 of 15 passes for 82 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Bob Perryman. Michigan lost the Holiday Bowl by a score of 24-17 to the 1984 national champion BYU Cougars
The BYU Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah. BYU fields 21 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) varsity athletic teams. They are a member of the West ...
.[
With Harbaugh's return, Zurbrugg became a backup and completed 7 of 21 passes for 168 yards during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. He scored two rushing touchdowns in a 1986 victory over Illinois.][ (type "zurbrugg" in the "Enter last name" box to retrieve Zurbrugg's career statistics)]
Though eligible to complete during the 1987 season, Zurbrugg announced in early September 1987 that he would forgo his final year of eligibility for personal reasons.[
]
Later years
After graduating from Michigan, Zurbrugg became a high school teacher and football coach in Alliance, Ohio. He was married in May 1990 to Christi L. Weirich in Stark County, Ohio
Stark County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 374,853. Its county seat is Canton. The county was created in 1808 and organized the next year. It is named for John Stark, an officer in th ...
.[Marriage record for Christopher M. Zurbrugg and Christi L. Weirich. Ancestry.com. Ohio Marriage Index, 1970, 1972-2007 atabase on-line]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zurbrugg, Chris
1964 births
Living people
Michigan Wolverines football players
High school football coaches in Ohio
People from Alliance, Ohio
Players of American football from Stark County, Ohio