South Carolina football alum has NFL's best game of 2025 season

On Sunday, former South Carolina football standout Rico Dowdle had a huge day. In fact, in what became a 27-24 victory for his Carolina Panthers, Dowdle had the best day of his career.

Entering the contest as the team’s backup running back, Dowdle played in place of an injured Chuba Hubbard. Despite logging just 83 total rushing yards through four games, he went off against the Miami Dolphins, totaling 206 yards on the ground and 28 yards receiving. His 206 rushing yards and 234 yards from scrimmage are the best marks in the NFL this season.

Dowdle also added a fourth quarter touchdown against the Dolphins. Former Gamecock teammate Xavier Legette found the end zone, as well, reeling in an eight-yard TD to open the scoring for the Panthers.

Ironically, Dowdle’s previous career-high came against the Panthers last season. While with the Dallas Cowboys, he rushed for 149 yards in a December win. Like this Sunday’s outburst, that contest was in Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, meaning the two biggest performances of his career have come in the Queen City.

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Dowdle rushed for over 1000 yards last year for the Cowboys, his first professional season with a major workload. 2025 marks his sixth season as a pro and his first outside of Dallas. He went undrafted following his 2019 graduation.

During his South Carolina football career, Dowdle battled injuries and crowded running back rooms. Even still, he finished his time in garnet and black 15th on the all-time rushing list. He led the Gamecocks in rushing in both 2016 (a Freshman All-SEC selection) and 2018 and posted one of just 13 200-yard performances in program history.

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