Marcus Dowtin to transfer

Well, scratch Marcus Dowtin from next year's plan for the Georgia football team.

Dowtin, a junior inside linebacker, has been granted an unconditional release by UGA to transfer to another school. That's according to UGA associate athletics director Claude Felton, who said he didn't have any information on where Dowtin might be going.

An attempt to reach Dowtin by phone was unsuccessful.

It's also unclear if Dowtin is leaving on his own or with a push from the staff. Last week it came to light that he had been charged last summer with second-degree assault in his native Maryland. Dowtin was never formally arrested, and the charge was resolved on Dec. 21.

But Richt only learned of the incident last week. Asked about Dowtin last Wednesday, Richt answered: "We'll talk about Marcus in a couple days."

Dowtin played in 11 games this past season, starting twice, and finished as the team's fourth-leading tackler, behind Akeem Dent, Bacarri Rambo and Justin Houston.

But Dowtin did not play in the Liberty Bowl, despite making the trip.

The news means Georgia will be without another candidate to help replace Dent at inside linebacker next season: Nick Williams, who has moved between safety and linebacker in his three seasons at Georgia, has also been given his release to transfer.

Georgia is already losing one starting outside linebacker, Darryl Gamble, while Houston is likely to enter the NFL draft, though he hasn't made any announcement yet.

That leaves Christian Robinson, who started 11 games at inside linebacker this year and was fifth on the team in tackles, and Cornelius Washington, who rotated with Gamble at one outside spot.

Richard Samuel, the converted tailback, redshirted this season and has a good chance to earn an inside linebacker spot. Jarvis Jones, the transfer from Southern California, is also expected to get significant playing time, likely at outside linebacker.