PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – After the Spring Game, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said Vincent Davis would be the starting tailback. As Fall camp began, it was Israel Abandikanda. Now there is a freshman in the mix as the Panthers search for number 1 running back.
"Vince has really turned it on the last few days," Narduzzi said. "It's a battle. It's going to come down to Sunday's scrimmage. We have to give them a lot of carries and find out what they have."
The latest on the scene is 5'9", 175-pound freshman Rodney Hammond. The Virginia native rushed for 1,500 yards and 18 touchdowns his last full high school season. He had a 305-yard, four-touchdown game on just 12 carries in one game.
"Rodney has been good," Narduzzi said. "I've been happy with what he's done as a freshman. Look at where Vince Davis was as a freshman, look where he is. He caught an over-the-shoulder pass the other day that was impressive."
"He's made people miss. I always say a good back is his own blocker. B-Y-O-B-Be Your Own Blocker. He's going to make people miss."
Davis led the team with 632 yards on 143 carries last year and had 154 receiving yards. Over a third of that yardage came from the 247-yard season finale against Georgia Tech, the most by a Pitt player since 2017.
Abandikanda gained 30 pounds since arriving at Pitt and judging from the cutoff shirt. It's muscle. The sophomore said he had an off-season talk with running backs coach Andre Powell about how to be 'a real running back' here.
"He's improved in a lot of areas," Powell said. "Physically, mentally, socially, it was hard to get him to speak up in meetings. It was hard for me to know what he knows and doesn't know if he doesn't speak."
"He's taking notes. He's asking questions. He's gotten better. He's gotten bigger, faster, stronger and his overall knowledge has grown as well."
"I learned a lot from the older running backs," the 5'8" Abandikanda said. "They told me a lot. I started really listening and buying in what Coach Powell is saying. Freshman year I wasn't really buying in. Right now I'm starting to really buy in and listen to every, little detail he was talking about. It's working."
"Explosiveness," Pitt offensive lineman Jake Kradel said of Abandikanda. "He's explosive. He sees a hole and he takes it for 15-20 (yards) and he's gone. He's a guy, if he gets a crease. He'll take it. He's going to be a great addition having him back and healthy."
"He's going to be a problem this year," said linebacker Wendell Davis. "That boy can run."
"It's very tight," Abandikanda said of the opportunity to start. "All of us are good. All of us are great. There is competition every day."
"I don't really view it as a competition because at the end of the day we are all brothers," Hammond said. "They teach me everything they know."
Narduzzi has harped on improving the running game since the middle of the 2020 season. Sunday's scrimmage is an opportunity for someone, maybe even a wild card like seniors Todd Sibley or AJ Davis.
The first game is coming up fast, September 4 at Heinz Field.
