Dante Dowdell (UK Athletics Photo)
His reputation portrays him as a physical, north-south bruising running back who is money in short-yardage and goal-line situations.
Dante Dowdell appreciates that respect but the running back transferred from Nebraska to Kentucky to show he’s more than just a short-yardage back even if that’s what made him so appealing to UK because of its short-yardage struggles last season.
The 6-2, 225-pound Dowdell rushed for 614 yards and 12 touchdowns on 143 carries in 12 games last year at Nebraska and had an 88.9 percent success rate on 27 third-and-short carries. He started his collegiate career at Oregon and played in six games in 2023.
“Bringing Date in with his size and the physical nature that he plays with and his ability is very exciting. I love his maturity and certainly that size,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said after Dowdell committed to Kentucky.
Dowdell was excellent at leaping over the pile at the line of scrimmage to pick up needed short yardage. Kentucky had no one last year who could consistently do that.
Dowdell said UK’s history of turning out 1,000-yard rusher and having running backs drafted appealed to him after he got in the transfer portal.
“I feel like this was an opportunity for me to come play at a school in the SEC that was going to play against Georgia, Tennessee and all the good teams,” Dowdell, a four-star recruit out of Mississippi who ran for 5,301yards and 65 touchdowns in high school, said.
In the spring showcase to end spring practice, he got most of the work with the first unit, scored on a short yardage play and had several explosive plays. However, after spring practice ended the Cats added New Mexico State running back Seth McGowan, a former top 200 recruit who started his career at Oklahoma, who might challenge Dowdell for the top spot.
Dowdell understands why Kentucky needs a short-yardage back but wants to be more.
“I do feel like I can be more than a short-yardage guy. I’m going to do that regardless but I don’t want just that to be who I am,” Dowdell said. “I gotta change the narrative on that this year. If you play here, it’s gonna allow you to show that you are kind of the full package at tailback. They are all about running the ball and I like that.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has had his best teams with a bell cow like Benny Snell or Chris Rodriguez at running back. Dowdell likes that but also understands his success depends on the offensive linemen
He didn’t know many of UK’s linemen, including the transfers, when he arrived on campus. He knew guard Jalen Farmer and quickly became a believer in guard Josh Braun, a transfer from Arkansas.
“I feel like that line as a whole is going to be very, very good,” Dowdell said.
Dowdell also likes everything about Kentucky running backs coach Jay Boulware.
“He’s been around some very good running backs. I feel like he really knows the position,” Dowdell said. “He’s been around guys that got into the NFL. He’s got enough experience to really know what a good back looks like and how to make you into that kind of back and that’s what I want him to do for me.”
Stoops said it was easy to see what Dowdell could add next season during UK’s live scrimmages during the spring with goal-line or short-yardage scenarios.
“Where you’re converting those third-and-twos, where you’re getting a profile tackle and you get a tough yard or two. We saw that,” the Kentucky coach said. “I’ve seen growth in the run game all spring. We definitely made some strides and need to continue to work on that.
“We have to have that physicality and the ability to run the ball to set up the play actions and not be in predictable second-and-long, third-and-long, and all those things.”
That’s exactly what Dowdell thinks he can provide for Kentucky this season.
“I think I can show I can make explosive plays as well as short-yardage plays,” Dowdell said.
One Response
I don’t understand if we are crowded at running back and need wide receivers because we only had 5 healthy receivers and a deep running back room.. Why did we get another tailback. We don’t even know how we are going to split the reps with Wilcox Patterson and Dowell and then we add a senior who will want to carry the football his last year of playing football and we have no clear cut starter. I’ve actually seen Patterson Wilcox and Dowdell play at Nebraska. That is 3 great running backs. McGowan and Wilcox have similar running style. Then you have Patterson who has a combination of both running styles then you have a power back in Dowdell. With 4 running backs who can start is usually a problem and I’m very surprised one didn’t hit the portal during the spring (Wilcox) who would have been a highly valued back in the portal with 3 years left to play. After Tru Edwards was considered ineligible it really made our wide receiver room very thin. Gilmore should come in and get instant second team reps. Its good to have that many backs in case of a injury but if there isn’t any injuries I’m wondering how he’s going to split the carries up? I guess its a good problem to have? I do think our offensive line will be much better this year but you could have a average line and it be considered phenomenal the way our line has played the last 3 years. If its bad this year that’s 4 years in a row of a terrible offensive line now how does that happen??