Photos by Hillary Ehlen, Paul Flessland and special to Bison Illustrated
Some college football teams are lucky enough to have two talented running backs in their backfield. They can split carries and keep defenses on their toes with differing skill sets. The North Dakota State Bison are lucky to have that with seniors Bruce Anderson and Lance Dunn. However, the Bison have more than those two talented running backs, they have five. Along with Anderson and Dunn, North Dakota State has Ty Brooks, Seth Wilson and Adam Cofield in its arsenal. All of these players warrant carries and, if they were at any other school, may receive 15 or more touches a game. Yet, they remain at North Dakota State, taking a fraction of the carries they would get at another school. None of the five would have it any other way.
Bruce Anderson
Senior
Ruskin, FL
Major: Psychology
5-foot-11, 210 pounds
Games: 15
2017 Rushing Yards: 1,216
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 12
Lance Dunn
Senior
Waterloo, IA
Major: Sports Management
5-foot-9, 208 pounds
Games: 8
2017 Rushing Yards 684
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 12
Dunn injured his labrum and was limited to only eight games.
Seth Wilson
Sophomore
Holmen, WI
Major: Exercise Science
5-foot-10, 199 pounds
Games: 8
2017 Rushing Yards: 420
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Adam Cofield
Sophomore
Lee’s Summit, MO
Major: Biological Sciences
5-foot-11, 200 pounds
Games: 6
2017 Rushing Yards: 163
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Demaris Purifoy
Senior
Wauwatosa, WI
Major: Marketing
6-foot-1, 198 pounds
Games: 1
2017 Rushing Yards: 85
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 1
Purifoy was injured in the first game of 2017 and missed the rest of the season.
Ty Brooks
Junior
Fargo, ND
Major: Criminal Justice
5-foot-9, 178 pounds
Games: 10
2017 Rushing Yards: 700
2017 Rushing Touchdowns: 7
2017 Bison Run Game
Rushing Attempts: 689
Total Rush Yards: 4,083
Yards Per Carry: 5.93
Rush Yards Per Game: 272.2
Rushing Touchdowns: 48
