Jeremy Pernell: Filling a Gap at Running Back

Third in a series. | Part 1, Part 2

Nebraska football continued to fortify several positions with its 2024 recruiting class. Among the handful of decommitments the staff dealt with during the cycle, none was more impactful than Lancaster (Texas) running back Kewan Lacy. The four-star Lacy had been committed for four months until backing off his pledge in late October, leaving the staff without a desperately needed class running back.

When Matt Rhule and his coaching staff got to Lincoln after the 2022 season, every skill position on the offensive side of the ball needed to be seriously addressed. After two offseasons, the running back room is still full of questions.

The Huskers came into this offseason with just four scholarship running backs set to return. Gabe Ervin Jr. (dislocated hip) and Rahmir Johnson (dislocated shoulder) are both coming off season-ending injuries sustained in September. Emmett Johnson, who started six games last season, returns after rushing for 411 yards — just behind the now-graduated Anthony Grant’s 413 — which is the fewest by a team-leading NU running back in a full season since 1958. Kwinten Ives, signed in Rhule’s transition class, redshirted and is still an unknown commodity. The position group as a whole accounted for just seven total touchdowns last season.

Rhule has stated he wants to be a body-blow program. He wants to be a physical team that wears you down through three quarters and suffocates you in the fourth. If he wants to foster that identity, he needs to build up the talent in that room.

To that end, the staff spent the offseason trying to do just that. In late June, longtime EJ Barthel target Mekhi Nelson reclassified in order to join the team this fall.

Nebraska also took steps to address the room after the 2023 season was over. Husker coaches had less than two months to try and replace Lacy in the ’24 class. Without a viable high school option, they shifted their focus toward the transfer portal seeking a high-upside talent.

Oregon running back Dante Dowdell’s high school career in Mississippi was legendary. He was selected first-team all-state as a junior and senior by the Mississippi Association of Coaches. He was named the MaxPreps Mississippi Player of the Year as a junior and was MHSAA 5A Mr. Football as a senior after leading Picayune Memorial High School to back-to-back state championships.

During Picayune’s two state championship playoff runs, he rushed for 1,491 yards and 21 touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards per carry and 186.4 yards per game — being named the games MVP both years.

Across his junior and senior seasons, Dowdell rushed for 4,720 yards on 586 carries (8 yards per carry) and 59 touchdowns in 28 games.

He signed with Oregon over finalists Alabama, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Penn State and LSU, while holding notable Power Five offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas A&M and West Virginia.

Dowdell was selected to play in the prestigious All-American Bowl as well as the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Classic.

A consensus four-star recruit in the 2023 class, Dowdell was regarded as a top 10 tailback by all four prominent recruiting services and was ranked the No. 109 (Rivals), No. 165 (ESPN), No. 166 (On3) and No. 192 (247Sports) overall player in the country.

After enrolling in January, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Dowdell was part of a talented and crowded backfield in Eugene. He spent last season battling for the No. 3 spot, playing behind second-team All-Pac-12 Bucky Irving and Jordan James, who finished the season with 696 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Dowdell appeared in six games as a true freshman for the Ducks — burning his redshirt — and finished with 17 carries for 90 yards, with the bulk of his workload coming in the first game of the season, when he had eight carries for 55 yards and his only touchdown.

During his end-of-season exit meeting with Oregon coaches, he was told he’d likely begin 2024 no higher than third in the pecking order again. Despite that, even with Jordan James returning and promising junior Noah Whittington coming back from an injury, Dowdell’s father, Lawrence Hopkins, admitted that Dante probably would have stayed at Oregon had his redshirt not been burned. With Dowdell having played two games with two snaps or less, I suspect the trust had been broken with the coaches.

Instead, Dante and his father thought it best to look for an opportunity elsewhere that offered the chance to earn more playing time. Dowdell entered the transfer portal on Dec. 14, just one day before the deadline, with the Huskers being one of the first teams to contact him.

Along with Nebraska, several other schools reached out including Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Missouri, Ohio State, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Washington, Baylor, Houston, Cincinnati, Indiana and Southern Miss.

Dowdell took an official visit to hometown Mississippi State the day after entering the portal, squeezing in a visit before the recruiting dead period took effect.

Despite the early inquiry, the Huskers were completely off Dowdell’s radar initially. EJ Barthel got his attention over the next couple weeks as he conveyed the opportunity for immediate playing time and described the pro-style offense the Huskers wanted to run, which is similar to what Dowdell excelled in as a prepster.

Dowdell’s father — the son of former NFL lineman Lawrence Pillers — is the recruiting coordinator & CEO of “King Recruiting” and also an All-American Bowl Game and combine scout, so he has connections in the industry. Hopkins knows several college running backs coaches and was given strong reviews after asking around about Barthel. Even Dowdell’s position coach at Oregon, Carlos Locklyn — now at Ohio State — praised Nebraska’s RB coach.

Barthel was able to jockey the Huskers into position for a visit coming out of the dead period.

Nebraska brought Dowdell to Lincoln Jan. 5, with newly signed five-star QB Dylan Raiola coming to campus to help peer recruit. In fact, Dylan’s was the second hand Dante shook as he emerged from his drop-off vehicle outside North Stadium — Matt Rhule’s was the first, with the head coach greeting him a few steps from the car.

Raiola and Dowdell spent a lot of time around each other during the two-day visit. The pair attended a wrestling meet and watched defensive lineman Nash Hutmacher return to the mat and earn a pin as coaches and teammates cheered emphatically inside the Devaney Center.

The visit went extremely well and Dowdell even teased Husker fans by posting a picture to social media of himself in a Nebraska uniform jumping over Raiola sitting on the Memorial Stadium turf.

Prior to visiting the Huskers, Dowdell had considered taking an additional visit to Texas A&M or Missouri on Jan. 7, before the visiting window closed. There was no need after he came to Lincoln. He announced his committed to Nebraska over social media on Jan. 6.

Dowdell was ranked as the No. 14 (247Sports), No. 15 (Rivals) and No. 18 (On3) RB in this year’s transfer portal cycle. He enrolled in January with three years of eligibility remaining and an available redshirt in his pocket.

He was able to participate in spring ball and finished with 76 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries in the Red-White game. Coming out of those practices, no one really separated himself from the rest of the pack, meaning it should be a pretty competitive fall camp.

Emmett Johnson has enjoyed a strong offseason, and we know the staff really likes Gabe Ervin. It’s going to be difficult to displace either of them as RB1. We also know Rahmir Johnson will have some sort of role in this offense, regardless. Although we haven’t seen Kwinten Ives, the staff seems high on his future as well.

Even so, there isn’t an established bell cow in the room and in spite of the optimism from coaches, there are a lot of questions surrounding those four guys. Can Gabe Ervin ever stay healthy? Can Rahmir Johnson find his 2021 form? Does Emmett Johnson have elite upside? Can Kwinten Ives stand out at this level?

Dowdell is capable of being a workhorse in a run-based offense. He’s a one-cut downhill runner with a nice blend of speed and physicality. He seems to be tailor-made for what Rhule wants to run in the Big Ten.

The question is can he make a good enough impression this summer to be that guy this season? Dowdell is the most naturally talented tailback on the roster, but we know with Matt Rhule that isn’t always the deciding factor. You have to be consistent and meet the standards set by the coaches. There’s a lot of familiarity with the guys in front of him. Guys the staff really like and trust. I think it’ll be tough for Dowdell to come out of fall camp as RB1, but I think he’ll find a role on this team at some point.

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