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2024 (Sophomore)
Dante Dowdell has played in every game this season with six starts. He leads Nebraska with 112 carries, 471 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. Dowdell has led Nebraska in rushing in six of nine games. His eight rushing touchdowns are the most by a Husker running back since the 2019 season.
Dowdell carried eight times for 55 yards and one touchdown against UTEP. He then set career highs with 17 carries, 74 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against Colorado. Dowdell started against Northern Iowa and had six carries for 55 yards with a career-long 38-yard rush. Against Illinois, Dowdell had a career-high 20 carries, rushing for 72 yards. He also caught the first two passes of his career against the Illini, totaling 10 receiving yards. Dowdell had nine carries for 21 yards and one touchdown at Purdue. He led Nebraska with 57 rushing yards on 14 carries against Rutgers, including a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth-down play. Dowdell carried seven times for 16 yards at Indiana and also had a four-yard reception. He led Nebraska with 60 rushing on 14 carries at Ohio State, including a 1-yard touchdown run that gave the Huskers a fourth-quarter lead. Dowdell started against UCLA and had 17 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a six-yard reception against the Bruins.
Before Nebraska (Piacyune HS/Oregon)
Dowdell played in six games at Oregon in 2023 and finished with 17 carries for 90 yards with a touchdown run against Portland State. He had a season-high 55 rushing yards against Portland State and had a season-long run of 13 yards in that game. He also appeared in games against Hawaii, Colorado, Stanford, California and Arizona State, with three rushes for 16 yards against the Sun Devils.
Dowdell was a consensus four-star recruit and a top 200 prospect by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. He was ranked among the nation’s top 10 running backs by Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports and checked in at No. 6 in the 247Sports composite running back rankings.
He was also ranked among the top five players in the state of Mississippi where he starred for four seasons at Picayune Memorial High School for coach Cody Stogner. During his prep career, Dowdell rushed for 5,301 yards and 65 touchdowns, helping his team to back-to-back MHSAA 5A state championships.
Dowdell was at his best in the state playoffs, rushing for a combined 1,491 yards and 21 touchdowns in the postseason in his final two years. He averaged 186.4 yards per game and 6.8 yards per carry en route to helping his team to back-to-back state titles. Dowdell was selected as the state championship game MVP his final two seasons and finished his prep career with 21 straight games with a touchdown.
In his senior season, Dowdell rushed for 2,165 yards and 31 touchdowns, with an average of 8.4 yards per carry and 166.5 yards per game. He rushed for 100 yards 12 times and had four games with more than 200 rushing yards. Dowdell ran for 241 yards and a career-high five touchdowns in a playoff semifinal game.
As a senior, he was selected to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and was the MHSAA 5A Mr. Football. He was chosen by the Mississippi Association of Coaches as a first-team all-state honoree and was selected to the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game roster.
Dowdell rushed for 2,555 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior and was named the MaxPreps Mississippi Player of the Year, helping Picayune to a 14-1 record and 5A state title. He averaged 203.3 rushing yards per game in the state playoffs and finished with five 200-yard rushing games and 13 games with more than 100 yards.
As a sophomore, Dowdell helped Picayune reach MHSAA 5A playoffs. During his freshman season, Dowdell rushed for 466 yards and five touchdowns and had 17 tackles, two TFLs and 1.5 sacks on defense.
Dowdell chose Oregon out of high school over dozens of offers.
Personal
Dante was born on March 7, 2005, and he is the son of Shalon Hopkins and his stepfather is Lawrence Hopkins. He is majoring in child, youth and family studies.