The College of New Jersey Athletics

Captain

A newcomer for the Lions in the fall of 2001, Bob Schurtz appeared in all ten games for the Lions after earning the starting role early in the season after Steve Bellosi was lost in the season opener with an injury. By year’s end, Bob had added his name to several TCNJ passing records, while also earning 2001 NJAC Honorable Mention Honors.

A transfer from the University of Rhode Island, where he had a full scholarship, he joined TCNJ’s team last fall making an immediate impact on the program. He finished the 2001 season having broken TCNJ’s single-season records for pass attempts (270), pass completions (131), and passing yards (1932), while also teaming with three others to break TCNJ’s team passing marks for attempts (299), and completions (151).

On the year, he finished the season having completed 48.5 percent of his passes (131 of 270), while throwing just 11 interceptions on the year, second lowest among the NJAC in 2001. He threw 16 touchdowns and passed for 1,932 yards. The team’s leader in total offense with 198.5 yards per game, he was ranked fourth in the NJAC in pass efficiency (120.03) and fifth in total offense on the year.

Back for the 2002 season, Bob regained his starting role and put up some rather impressive numbers for the Lions. Twice during the 2002 season, he was cited as both the NJAC and the ECAC Metro Offensive Player of the Week. The first selection came after the Lions’ impressive overtime win over SUNY Cortland on the road, 41-38. In that contest, Schurtz passed for 333 yards with three TD strikes, including a long of 64 yards on the Lions’ opening drive. He completed 51.4% of his passes in the game on a 19-for-37 effort with no interceptions.

His second citation came in the Lions’ regular-season finale as the Lions defeated Kean University, 55-14. Schurtz threw for 236 yards with four TD’s, including an 86 yard TD pass to help the Lions jump out to a 37-0 lead. He completed 14-of-21 pass attempts with no interceptions and no sacks in the contest.

For the year, Schurtz, who was an NJAC Honorable Mention Offensive All-Star, threw for 1,689 yards, while throwing for 13 touchdowns. His numbers in 2002 marked the second straight season the Lion quarterback had passed for over 1,000 yards. On his career, Schurtz now has 3,621 career passing yards, which is just 84 yards shy of TCNJ’s career passing yards record (3,705). In just 19 games played at TCNJ, Schurtz has completed 212 passes on 410 attempts with 27 TD’s and nine rushing scores as well.

Schurtz is already receiving some pre-season attention as he was tapped for the Small College All-America Team by Draft 2004.com.

A history education major at TCNJ, he was a three-sport standout at Absegami High School, where he lettered in football, basketball and track and field. He will serve as the Lions’ tri-captain this season after being elected to the spot by his team mates and last year earned a spot on TCNJ’s Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll. Bob’s mother, Mary Ellen Schurtz, is a former women’s basketball player at LaSalle University.

Year By Year Statistics
Year    G    Effic.     Att-Cmp-Int    Pct.    Yds.    TD   Long Avg/G Rushes Yds. TD Scoring
2001    10   120.03     270-131-11    48.5    1,932  16     68      193.2     97      53     6 36 pts.
2002     9    139.15     214-125-6      58.4   1,689   13    86       187.7    68      -19    4 24 pts.
Totals  19   129.59     484-256-17    53.45 3,621   29    86       190.57 165      34   10 60 pts.

Personal:  Bob was born on May 2, 1980.  He is the son of Thomas and Mary Ellen Shurtz and is majoring in History Education.