By Ray Porter, Jr.
PITTSBURGH, PA–The Pitt Panthers Homecoming Game vs. the Virginia Tech Hokies turned into the Israel Abinkanda show.
The junior running back, who had already had a 4 TD game, took it to another level Saturday as he rushed for 6 TDs and a school-record 320 yards in the Panthers’ 45-29 win at Acrisure Stadium.
“All right, guys, really fired up for our football team,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. Probably the best 60 minutes we’ve put together as a team. Obviously, there’s things we can still clean up, but when I look just at the whole picture of it, you came in with adversity, as well. It’s a tight game going into the fourth. I just love the way our kids hang in there, continue to fight and believe. We talked about feeding off each other, and the offense is scoring, the defense is going three-and-out in that second half. There were just some great things going on.”
Abanikanda’s 320 yards broke Tony Dorsett’s single-game record of 303 (1975), and his 6 TDs tied a 112-year-old record set by Norman Budd (1910). He is also the first Power 5/BCS player to top 300 yards and six touchdowns in a single game since Ricky Williams in 1998 and only the 2nd player to rush for at least 5 TDs against Virginia Tech since Miami’s Willis McGahee (2002).
“I mean, breaking a record, Tony Dorsett’s record that’s been there for a long, long time,” Narduzzi commented. “He’s got breakaway speed. If he pops through there, good luck to you. There’s not many guys that can catch him. Over 300 yards rushing, and we didn’t — he only had 36 carries. Probably could have given it to him another 10 times. He cramped up a little bit. I was like, get him out. But Izzy is a football player. Izzy is really good.”
The records continue: Abankanda’s 6 TDs ties the ACC Single-game TD record, and he is the 7th ACC RB to surpass 300 yards in a game. All in a day’s work as he scored all of Pitt’s TDs, and Pitt needed every one of them to put the Hokies away.
“Yeah, the records are great. I want to win football games, and I think Chris LaSala kind of muttered something to me,” said Narduzzi. “I was kind of like, I didn’t really want to hear it, but something about 16 he needs, and I kind of spun around. I didn’t know what he was talking about. And then he said, he’s five yards shy. I think right before he got the cramp or the play before he got a cramp of breaking some other record. I don’t care about records. After the game, I do. It’s awesome for him. Tony Dorsett, one of the greatest tailbacks ever to play in Pitt history, that’s pretty significant.”
The Hokies still did not make it easy for the Panthers, especially in the first half as they took a 16-7 lead when RB Keshawn King rushed for a 19-yard TD. But the Panthers stormed back to take a 17-16 lead off Abanikanda’s 2nd TD and a 47-yard FG by K Ben Sauls. In the 2nd half, the Panthers stormed to 31-16 off 2 more Abanikanda TDs, but back came the Hokies as they scored 14 unanswered points off a 43-yard TD pass from QB Grant Wells to WR Da’Wain Lofton, and then they blocked a Pitt punt and fell on it in the end zone, but a failed 2-point conversion kept the score at 31-29. Then Abanikanda took over again as he scored on a 10-yard run and an 80-yarder to seal the game. And then he rushed for 22 more yards to seal the game.
Despite giving up 22 of the 29 points, Pitt’s defense made the plays that mattered in this game as they intercepted Wells once and sacked him 3 times. They also forced a 4th quarter fumble. The Special Teams also stood out as they blocked an extra point & grazed 2 punts.
When asked about the defense’s performance, Narduzzi replied, “Just average at times. We’ll look at the tape. That first half, I’ve just never been around where we get the ball run on us. I’m not used to it. So, we’ll reevaluate where we are.”
Pitt QB Kedon Slovis finished with 170 yards (15/27) 0 TDs and an interception. WR Jaden Bradley continued to improve as he caught 5 passes for 66 yards. For the Hokies, Well passes for 156 yards, a TD and interception, and WR Kaleb Smith caught 9 passes for 152 yards.
When asked about his Quarterback’s performance, Narduzzi replied, “We’ll figure it out. We’ve got to get him — make him better. We’ve got to make him better as coaches, so we’ll look into that. I’ve got some ideas, and we’ll figure that thing out.”
The Panthers (4-2, 1-1 ACC) will now have a Bye next week before traveling to Louisville October 22nd to take on the Cardinals (3-3, 1-3 ACC).
“Again, it wasn’t just a total blowout, but the score looks like it at the end, but our kids just kept playing and fighting, and I was excited about just the way they responded to adversity in the game,” Narduzzi said.
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