Georgia got hit with a major blow on Tuesday when Kirby Smart confirmed that transfer running back Dante Dowdell is dealing with an injury that will keep him out for a substantial stretch.
Smart didn’t get into the specifics at SEC Media Days, but he made clear the situation is serious. Rumors had been swirling late last week that Dowdell had been in a serious ATV accident, and while Smart stopped short of confirming that, he did say the Bulldogs are waiting to see how things develop.
"We're praying for him and his family,” Smart said via 247Sports.com. “We expect a full recovery, but the outlook right now is we're waiting to see.
We'll go day to day with him and see. I hate that for him and his family, but he's a great kid.
It's been tough. A lot of our players have been over there to see him.
It's just one of those really tough situations."
The loss matters because Dowdell was expected to play a real role in Georgia’s offense this season. Nate Frazier and Chauncey Bowens are projected to lead the backfield, and both were dominant last year, but Dowdell was supposed to give the Bulldogs something different.
He arrived in Athens after a winding college path that started at Oregon, then moved to Nebraska and Kentucky before landing at Georgia this offseason. Across his career, he has 16 touchdowns. And when he flashed at G-Day this spring - 61 rushing yards and a touchdown on only six carries - it gave fans plenty of reason to think he could be a factor right away.
Now that timeline is in doubt. With the season less than 50 days away, it feels unlikely he’ll be ready for the opener, and there’s even a real chance he could miss the entire year. Georgia has enough depth at running back to keep moving, but Dowdell was the big-bodied option the Bulldogs were counting on for short-yardage work, and that piece of the puzzle is suddenly gone.
Smart isn’t closing the door on a return later in the season, but there’s no clear answer yet on when - or if - that might happen.
And Dowdell isn’t the only injury concern hanging over Georgia right now. Auburn transfer Amaris Williams tore his ACL during spring ball, and that injury was already ruled season-ending. Williams has said he’ll do everything he can to be back by the end of the year, but that kind of recovery in that amount of time is a long shot.
For Georgia, the injury list is already getting uncomfortable. The Bulldogs can survive a lot, but they’d prefer not to keep stacking setbacks this early in the year.
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Former Husker Dante Dowdells Football Future Is Suddenly In Doubt
Dante Dowdells football path has taken an abrupt and troubling turn, with the former Nebraska running back now dealing with serious injuries after an ATV accident near his home in Mississippi. Dowdell, who transferred to Georgia after leaving Lincoln, had been part of the Bulldogs backfield plans as he looked to carve out a role in his latest stop.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart confirmed Dowdell is hospitalized in Atlanta, and the situation has cast immediate uncertainty over when, or whether, he will be able to return to the field. For a player still trying to establish himself after multiple transfers, the bigger concern now is recovery, with the football question pushed far into the background. [Read more 🡒]
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Eli Drinkwitz Took A Cheap Shot At The Big Ten Again
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For Nebraska, the comment is more than just another round of conference chatter because the Cornhuskers live in that same scheduling world and have to navigate it every fall. The bigger issue is whether the Big Tens postseason results really support Drinkwitzs theory, especially when recent title runs have come with plenty of wins over top opponents and when other leagues, including the SEC, have also leaned on lighter non-conference setups of their own. [Read more 🡒]