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Georgia RB Dante Dowdell Gives Update After Severe Injury

Dante Dowdell’s social media post on Monday provided a bigger update as to the injuries he has been dealing with.
Dean Legge|
Georgia Bulldogs RB Dante Dowdell during Georgia’s annual G-Day spring game on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
Georgia Bulldogs RB Dante Dowdell during Georgia’s annual G-Day spring game on Dooley Field at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, April 18, 2026. | (Tony Walsh/UGAAA)

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Georgia Bulldogs

ATHENS - Kirby Smart’s Georgia Bulldogs lost what was thought to be an important piece to the running backs room this summer when Dante Dowdell was severely injured in an ATV accident.

Dowdell’s social media post on Monday provided a bigger update as to the injuries he has been dealing with, and it was a lot. Dowdell said he was sent the hospital for two months after he broke ribs, punctured a lung, broke both collarbones, had nerve damage in his right arm and had nine staples applied to his head.

Smart told reporters in July that he was not sure when Dowdell would return to the program.

“I don’t know when he’ll be back,” Smart said at SEC Media Days. “He had an off-campus accident back home during our break, and we’re praying for him and his family. We expect a full recovery, but the outlook right now is we’re waiting to 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.”

Without Dowdell the Bulldogs played a slew of running backs in the season-opening 63-3 win over Tennessee State on Saturday. Nate Frazier, Chauncey Bowens, Dwight Phillips Jr., Bo Walker and Jae Lamar all had carries for the Bulldogs. Frazier accounted for three touchdowns on only four carries. UGA ended the game with 272 yards.

During his time at Oregon (2023), Nebraska (2024) and Kentucky (2025) Dowdell accumulated 272 carries for 1,264 yards with 16 touchdowns. His most productive season came in 2024 at Nebraska when he scored 12 touchdowns.

The news broke that he was headed to Georgia in January. No. 3 Georgia will face Western Kentucky Saturday Between the Hedges in Sanford Stadium.

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Dean Legge
DEAN LEGGE

After two-plus decades of covering the Georgia Bulldogs and the SEC, Dean Legge is one of the definitive voices in Athens and beyond. Legge has authored two books - DAWGSTRUCTION and DOUBLE DAWGS - with each chronicling Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs' run to national titles in 2021 and 2022. Legge has been a Heisman Trophy voter since 2005 and a Biletnikoff Award voter since 2009. He’s covered SEC Championships, Peach Bowls, Orange Bowls, Sugar Bowls, the Rose Bowl Game, College Football Playoff National Championship Games, the NCAA Tournament, the College World Series as well as a slew of college football, basketball and baseball games. Legge graduated from Coker College in 1999 with a degree in Political Science. He played both tennis and basketball for the Cobras. After graduating, Legge completed his academic career at the University of Georgia where he earned a Master of Public Administration from the School of Public and International Affairs in 2001. In 2008, Legge was elected President of the Coker College Alumni Association. He served on the Board of Trustees at Coker from 2009 to 2017 and was a member of the Executive Committee, Student Services and Enrollment Committee and Athletic Committee in that time. Legge is a native of Tucker, Georgia.

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