Editor’s note: Steve Doerschuk spent months researching quarterbacks. The result is three waves of a series, “Year of the Quarterback.” The first wave revolves around tremendous high school QBs struggling to find the field in college. This is the eighth article in the first wave.
One big “O” to another, Ohio State and Oklahoma may be kindred football spirits, but they are practically perfect strangers.
Norman, Oklahoma is 935 miles from Columbus, Ohio, and might as well be on the moon.
When Baker Mayfield planted the Oklahoma flag at midfield in Ohio Stadium in 2017, it capped just the fourth fight with the Buckeyes in 122 years of Sooners football.
Oklahoma rounded up Brendan Zurbrugg and three other Ohioans for the 2024 roster; it took some doing.
Defensive lineman Caiden Woullard went from the Massillon Tigers (career sacks leader) to the Miami RedHawks (two-year starter) and through the transfer portal to Norman.
Defensive back Kendel Dolby was a Springfield Wildcats senior in 2020 and then a two-year player for the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen before landing with the Sooners in 2023.
Safety Reggie Powers III, a Centerville High senior in 2023, had an offer from Ohio State, committed to Michigan State, and switched to Oklahoma.
Brendan Zurbrugg’s path was the most complicated. The 6-foot-4 track star made a triple jump.
After a marathon run as quarterback of the Alliance Aviators, he committed to Syracuse on June 18, 2023. On June 28, as questions about head coach Dino Babers’ future festered, he switched his commitment to Northwestern.
On July 11, Northwestern dismissed longtime head coach Pat Fizgerald amid charges of institutionalized hazing. By the time Fitzgerald fired back with a $130 million wrongful termination lawsuit, Zurbrugg had switched his commitment to Oklahoma.
“The timing of the Northwestern offer compared to my commitment to Syracuse was a little weird,” Zurbrugg said. “I visited Northwestern honestly thinking I’d have to have my mind completely changed.
“But seeing the stability at Northwestern, knowing Coach Fitz was there for 20-some years … it was definitely just a better opportunity to get myself into a stable program.
“Coach Babers (losing his job) did eventually happen. All the Syracuse guys who recruited me left as well.
“Then there was the hazing incident at Northwestern. I really didn’t want Fitz to get fired, but he did get fired, and that kind of changed the whole outlook.
“Then Oklahoma reached out.”
At Syracuse, Zurbrugg would have been with a head coach, Fran Brown, who didn’t recruit him. He would have been in a quarterback room with Kyle McCord, who transferred in from Ohio State; Carlos Del Rio-Wilson, a transfer from Florida, and Braden Davis, a transfer from South Carolina.
At Northwestern, he would have been under head coach David Braun, who had been defensive coordinator at South Dakota in 2022.
He settles in at Oklahoma under third-year head coach Brent Venables.
It’s a rougher place to play.
Syracuse has managed just five winning seasons in the last 22 years. Northwestern finished 1-8 in the Big Ten three times in the last five years.
Oklahoma has won seven national championships and 49 conference titles. A shaky year in Norman is 10-3, the record in 2023.
Once the Sooners became Zurbrugg’s final answer, he went all in. He left Alliance after Christmas break and “early enrolled.” He played in Oklahoma’s spring game, directing a late touchdown drive for the winning side.
His 2023 season at Alliance was a roller coaster, including a 12-7 upset of Lake, a 48-46 loss to Canton Central Catholic, a 36-0 rout of Marlington, and a 49-41 loss at West Branch.
The new neighbors include Alabama, Auburn and LSU as Oklahoma enters a new life in the SEC.
Coming out of spring practice Zurbrugg said, “The game is 10 times faster here. The attention to details is so high. It’s cool to be a part of it.”
Brendan’s dad, Chris, sees his son as a fighter who handled recruiting as well as he could and understands what he got himself into.
Chris Zurbrugg played quarterback at Michigan, starting some games but mostly backing up Jim Harbaugh. His time in Ann Arbor is covered later in this series.
“I’d have jumped at the opportunity to enroll early at Michigan,” Chris Zurbrugg said. “They didn’t do that back then.
“We talked about this when Brendan…
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