Photo courtesy of Caleb Williams - d3photography
St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus senior running back Jeffrey Dubose (St. Paul, Minn.) has been named a 2013 D3football.com All-America Honorable Mention selection following a senior season that saw him re-write the Gustavus football record books.
Dubose was one of eight players from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to be recognized as part of this year’s All-America selections. Joining Dubose was Augsburg’s Adam Carl (1st team, tight end) and Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane (1st team, return specialist), Bethel’s Jeff Schmidt (2nd team, tackle), Seth Mathis (2nd team, linebacker), and Mitch Hallstrom (3rd team, wide receiver), and Concordia’s Nate Adams (3rd team, defensive end) and Kenyon O’Brien (honorable mention, cornerback).
“What a special honor for Jeffrey,” commented Head Coach Peter Haugen. “He’s a complete player and he had a great year. He has worked extremely hard, so it is nice to see him get recognized for his performance, but the neat thing is that he would be the first one to give credit to his teammates. That’s just the type of teammate and leader he is.”
In his final season wearing the winged helmet, the senior had a year for the record books, carrying the ball 265 times for 1,459 yards and 24 touchdowns, all three of which are Gustavus records. In the modern day of spread offenses and dynamic aerial attacks, Jeffrey’s numbers are even more impressive. His 265 attempts bested a 43-year old record set by Tom Dahlberg ’73 with 245 rushes in the 1970 season. Dubose’s 1,459 rushing yards breaks the 1,233-yard record total set by Andy Traetow ’03 in 2002, while his 24 rushing touchdowns shattered the single-season record of 17 set by Travis Prunty ’00 in 1999. The 24 scores also ranked third in all of NCAA Division III this season.
Dubose’s record-breaking year was highlighted by a pair of record-worthy performances, the first of which was a record-tying five touchdown effort against Hamline in a 52-7 win on Oct. 5th. In that game, Jeffrey rushed for four scores and caught another to tie the Gustavus record for touchdowns in a game (5) held by Andy Traetow. Dubose followed up his record-tying touchdown performance with a 264-yard rushing effort against Carleton in a 34-19 win five weeks later on Nov. 9th. The total surpassed the previous single-game rushing yards record of 258, set by Ray Wilson ’09 on Oct. 25th, 2008 against Augsburg.
The St. Paul native accomplished all of these single-game and single-season feats on his way to breaking a number of career records. Over his four years on the hill, Jeffrey rushed for 3,419 yards and 41 touchdowns. With seven more receiving touchdowns, Dubose accounted for a total of 48 touchdowns in his career. His rushing yard mark bested Tom Dahlberg’s 3,315 yards accumulated from 1969 to 1972. Remarkably, Dubose broke the record with 120 fewer attempts, as he needed just 669 carries compared to 789 for Dahlberg. Jeffrey’s 41 career rushing touchdowns are eight more than Ron Straka ’81, who amassed 33 scores from 1977 to 1980.
“Jeffrey has set the bar for how hard you have to work to achieve this type of success,” finished Haugen in reference to the impact Dubose has had on the Gustavus football program. “His toughness, his work ethic, and how he plays the game are what sets him apart. He plays the game the right way: with desire, with passion, and with intensity. He is certainly a special player.”