DanteDowdell

Career
• Transferred to Kentucky in 2025 after one season at Nebraska (2024) and one season at Oregon (2023)
• Has played in 30 career games (12 at Nebraska, 6 at Oregon and 12 at UK) with nine starts (7 at Nebraska, 2 at UK)
• Has 272 career carries for 1,264 rushing yards with 16 TDs (4.6 ypc)
• Has 14 receptions for 51 yards (3.6 ypc)

2025 – Junior
• Played in all 12 games with two starting assignments (vs. Ole Miss and Tennessee)
• Had 112 carries for 560 yards and three scores for the Cats (5.0 yards per carry)
• Caught seven passes for 30 yards
• In his UK debut vs. Toledo, had a team-high 14 carries for a career-best 129 yards and a career-long, 79-yard touchdown
• Marked the most rushing yards for a UK player in the season opener since Stanley “Boom” Williams jetted for 135 yards vs. Louisiana Lafayette in 2015
• Marked the first 100+ yard rushing game of his college career
• In the win over Florida, rushed seven times for a team-high 104 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown burst in the fourth quarter … Marked his second 100+ yard rushing game of the season and his career
• Had two touchdown runs of at least 65 yards or more this season, also recording a 79-yard touchdown run in the season opener
• Led the Wildcats’ ground game in the win over Tennessee Tech, rushing 13 times for 87 yards, including a 19-yard touchdown jaunt

2024 – Sophomore (Nebraska)
• Played in 12 games with seven starting assignments
• Led Nebraska in rushing with 143 carries, 614 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns
• Also had seven catches for 21 yards
• Led the team in rushing in six games
• His 12 rushing touchdowns were the most by a Husker running back since the 2018 season
• Had a career-high 74 rushing yards against Colorado
• Had a career-long 38-yard rush vs. Northern Iowa
• Had a career-high 20 carries vs. Illinois
• Had a career-high three rushing touchdowns vs. Wisconsin which tied for the most individual rushing touchdowns allowed by Wisconsin since the 2013 season
• Caught the first two passes of his career against the Illini, totaling 10 receiving yards
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2024)

2023 – Freshman (Oregon)
• In six games at Oregon, finished with 17 carries for 90 yards and one score (vs. Portland State)
• Also appeared in games vs. Hawaii, Colorado, Standford, California and Arizona State

High School
• Was a consensus four-star recruit and one of the nation’s top running backs by all of the major recruiting services coming out of Picayune High School
• Rushed for an impressive 5,301 yards and 65 touchdowns, helping head coach Cody Stogner and his team win back-to-back MHSAA 5A state championships
• Named the MVP of the state championship game in both his junior and senior seasons
• Ended his prep career scoring a touchdown in 21 straight games
• During his senior season, rushed for 2,165 yards with 31 touchdowns and averaged 8.4 yards per carry and 166.5 yards per game
• Rushed for 100 yards 12 times and had four games with 200-plus rushing yards
• Named to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and was named the MHSAA 5A Mr. Football
• Earned First-Team All-State honors by the Mississippi Association of Coaches and was selected to the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game
• Named the MaxPreps Mississippi Player of the Year as a junior after rushing for 2,555 yards and 28 scores

Personal
• Born in Slidell, Louisiana
• Son of Shalon Lopez and Dominic Dowdell
• Has one sister, Raja Hopkins
• Major is criminal justice

Dante Says
• After football, his dream job is to own a classic car shop
• One thing most people don’t know him is that he can fix cars and ATVs
• Three words to describe him are respectful, nice and determined
• What motivates him to work hard is to be a success story coming out of Picayune, Miss.
• The craziest thing he’s ever done was catch an alligator