Georgia football transfer Dante Dowdell sidelined after off campus accident. What Kirby Smart said

TAMPA, Fla. — Georgia football’s running back depth has taken a hit due to offseason injuries sustained to the player the Bulldogs brought in to bolster its backfield.

Kentucky transfer Dante Dowdell sustained injuries in an “off campus accident back home during our break,” coach Kirby Smart said Tuesday morning at SEC Media Days.

“We’re praying for him and his family,” Smart said of the Picayune, Miss. native. “Expecting a full recovery but the outlook right now is wait and see. …I hate that for him and his family, but he’s a great kid. It’s been tough. A lot of players have been over to see him. It’s just one of those really tough situations.”

Smart was asked if Dowdell was hurt in an ATV accident.

“I don’t know honestly what you call them,” he said. “I don’t know if it had four wheels or two.”

Dowdell’s bio on his Opendorse athlete NIL account says that “I love fishing and riding 4 wheelers as a hobby.”

Smart said Dowdell has been in multiple hospitals and is now in Georgia. As for the nature of the injuries, Smart said it’s “serious enough for him not to be with us now.”

The 6-foot, 225-pound Dowdell rushed for 560 yards and 3 touchdowns last season as a junior and led all rushers at Georgia’s G-Day spring game with 61 yards and a touchdown.

The senior has rushed for 1,264 yards and 16 touchdowns in three seasons that also included stops at Nebraska and Oregon.

Georgia already lost edge rush transfer Amaris Williams from Auburn to an ACL injury in the spring.

The Bulldogs bring back junior Nate Frazier and redshirt sophomore Chauncey Bowens, the team’s top two rushers. Georgia also returns junior Dwight Phillips and sophomore Bo Walker to the position which also includes freshmen Jae Lamer and Nick Peal and redshirt junior Micah Bell.

Frazier rushed for 947 yards and 6 touchdowns last season. He led the team in rushing in the last six games including 181 rushing yards on 12 carries at Mississippi State and 108 yards on 16 carries against Georgia Tech.

“I’m still excited for all of our running backs,” center Drew Bobo said Tuesday. “Chauncey, Nate, Peanut (Phillips), Bo Walker. All of them are just great backs. I’m excited to see what they can do this year.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football transfer Dante Dowdell sidelined after off campus accident. What Kirby Smart said