Pitt rides Izzy Abanikanda’s school-record 320 yards to victory over Virginia Tech
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Izzy Abanikanda might have been the least surprised person inside Acrisure Stadium on Saturday night.
Almost as if rushing for a school-record 320 yards and six touchdowns and leading Pitt to a 45-29 victory against Virginia Tech was little more than a stroll along the Ohio River.
“I was just showing them me,” he said. “That’s how I’ve always been my whole life since I was 4 years old and started playing football.
“I knew I was going to be great. This ain’t nothing new.”
Six touchdowns? How about seven?
“That brought memories back when I was in Little League (in Brooklyn, N.Y.) and scored seven touchdowns,” he said.
Finally, after the chants of “Izzy, Izzy, Izzy” from many in the announced crowd of 54,677 had faded away, someone mentioned the name Tony Dorsett. Suddenly, Abanikanda became reverential.
After all, he had just knocked the legendary Dorsett from atop Pitt’s all-time single-game rushing list, beating by 17 yards Dorsett’s 303 against Notre Dame in 1975 — 27 years before he was born.
“Oh, no. That’s amazing. I was honored,” he said.
Although Pitt (4-2, 1-1 ACC) still has much to prove in the second half of the season, one fact that has been glaringly obvious smacked Virginia Tech across the face: Pitt is a different team when Abanikanda lines up at running back.
After missing the second half of the Georgia Tech loss last week with a shoulder injury, Abanikanda was angry and told himself sitting out against the Hokies was not an option.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m a soldier. I’m going to play this game.’ ”
He said he wanted to return in the second half last week but was discouraged by his coaches.
Abanikanda saved plenty of power and speed for a Virginia Tech defense that surrendered 496 yards from scrimmage.
Abanikanda’s touchdown runs came, in order, from 38, 17, 29, 5, 10 and 80 yards, tying a 112-year Pitt record set by Norman Budd in 1910 in a 71-0 victory against Ohio and an ACC record held by North Carolina’s Kelvin Bryant since 1981.
Abanikanda, who has 13 touchdowns this season, also is the first Power 5 running back since Texas’ Ricky Williams in 1998 to rush for more than 300 yards and score six touchdowns, according to ESPN Stats and Info. Williams won the Heisman Trophy that year.
“It feels unreal breaking these legendary players’ records,” Abanikanda said.
Abanikanda likely left Acrisure as the ACC’s leading rusher, now that he’s up to 830 yards. With at least six more games remaining, he probably will fulfill Narduzzi’s previous prediction of Pitt securing a 1,000-yard rusher this season for the first time since 2018.
“I have no limit,” he said.
Abanikanda spent nearly as much energy thanking everyone for helping him break the record — linemen, coaches, even the Pitt defense for getting the ball back for the offense — as he did running. Did he ever get tired during the 3-hour, 32-minute game?
“I’ll be honest. I got tired here and there,” he said.
Finally, after the last of his 36 carries, he stayed on the ground, bringing medical personnel to his side. “Just a little cramp,” he said.
Coach Pat Narduzzi said, “Probably could have given it to him another 10 times. He cramped up a little bit. I (said), ‘Get him out.’ ”
Narduzzi was especially impressed by his junior running back on the 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter when it appeared Abanikanda was stopped, but he somehow wriggled through traffic.
His warning to defenses: “If he pops through there, good luck to you.”
Now, the question arises about Pitt completing its offense with a more effective passing game and making some improvements on defense to complement what Abanikanda brings to the field.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis completed barely half of his pass attempts (15 of 28) for 170 yards and an interception that caromed off the hands of the leading receiver for the game, Jaden Bradley (five for 66 yards).
Defense and special teams almost became too much of the story.
Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-2) collected 403 total yards of offense, the third time a Pitt opponent surpassed 400. Also, freshman punter Sam Vander Haar dropped a snap at the goal line, leading to a block and a touchdown, that cut the Pitt lead to 31-29 with 13 minutes, 25 seconds left in the game. The Panthers were saved from having the score tied when the Hokies failed on the 2-point conversion.
Of course, ultimately, it didn’t matter. The Hokies had a chance to take the lead, but wide receiver Kaleb Smith fumbled — forced by Pitt’s John Morgan and recovered by teammate Shayne Simon — and Pitt regained momentum at 11:14.
By that time, the Virginia Tech defense appeared to have had enough and allowed two more Abanikanda touchdown runs of 10 and 80 yards, the last of the six pack.
“I feel like in the second half, when you’re just running on a team, they just finally crack and break,” center Jake Kradel said. “That’s what we did. I think Izzy’s (80-yard) touchdown, that’s when we were like, ‘OK, they’re broken. They’re done.’ ”
Abanikanda gained nearly two-thirds of Pitt’s total yards from scrimmage, but he still said, “I won’t say I had to carry them.”
“I did what I had to do. I did what my job was and helped my team win.”