PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – I’m not nearly trendy enough to come up with it but it was ‘Izzy to the Hizzy’ four times as the solidification of Israel Abanikanda as the Panthers number one tailback continued in a 45-24 win over Rhode Island Saturday.
The junior had the Panthers first four-touchdown rushing game since Darrin Hall in 2017. Each of them showing off his burst which really separates him from the other Panthers tailbacks.
“Izzy has done a nice job,” said Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi. “When he pops through there, he can pop through as you guys see. The offensive line did an outstanding job, so they've done-we took what they gave us today, and we were able to run the ball, and if we can run the ball and have the ball for 35 minutes, it's a good day.”
Second and three at the Panthers 33, Abanikanda cruises through the middle of the line in what wasn’t a huge hole but he left all in his dust and into the endzone to make it 14-0.
Later in the half after 21 yards already on the drive, Abanikanda takes the 16th play of the possession up the middle, untouched for a 12-yard touchdown. The yardage gave him three straight one-hundred-yard games and it was just minutes into the second quarter.
Opening drive of the third quarter with the Panthers up 14, Abanikanda bolted 24 yards up the middle to finish the possession which also included an Abanikanda 19-yard pass reception. The Brooklyn native finished his scoring with a 13-yard touchdown and also had 49 yards in kickoff returns.
“I’m not surprised because I know what I’m capable of,” Abanikanda said. “I’m just going to keep working and try to do better.”
He gave credit to his offensive line, telling them often that he loves them. The junior said he’s also more decisive with his cuts and studying film a lot more, not just of himself, but of the defense they are playing.
In the last five seasons, only Quadree Ollison (1,213 yds in 2018), rushed for four digits as Narduzzi said they were going to have a thousand-yard back in 2022. Abanikanda finished with 177 on 19 carries on Saturday and has 464 in the last three games, 479 on the season.
“He’s a great player and a great back,” said Pitt QB Kedon Slovis. “You saw that today. It makes it so much easier on the linemen, on the offense. It’s the second game where he’s had (a long) touchdown. As an offense, I’ve been with a lot of guys that can get 20 (yards). When you can get that second-level speed and be that explosive. It’s really special. It makes it really easy on the rest of the team.”
Abanikanda is just a few hundred yards over 1,000 for his career, but was asked about being at a school with running back tradition including Tony Dorsett, Curtis Martin, Shady McCoy, James Conner. He was not lacking confidence with his answer.
“I want to not live up to them, I want to be better.”