His father, Leonard Dowis, was the Franklin County High School football coach.
The injury forced him to miss the team's 33–28 loss against Arizona State University in the 1987 Freedom Bowl.
He set an NCAA single-season rushing mark for quarterbacks with 1,315 yards that stood for 12 years.
He also set the NCAA Division I career record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 3,612 (broken by Antwaan Randle El in 2001).
Against San Diego State University, he set the Western Athletic Conference record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single-game with 249 (broken by Chad Hall on October 13, 2007) and most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in a single-game with 6.
On July 17, 1998, he was inducted into the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame as a charter member.
On August 29, 2016, he died in a traffic accident at the age of 48 after driving south in the northbound freeway lane, not wearing a seatbelt.
Forensic toxicology reports confirmed that he had a blood alcohol content level of .21 at the time of the accident.