Four Stats that Put Pitt RB Israel Abanikanda's Hot Start in Context
PITTSBURGH -- The public address system in the press box at Acrisure Stadium got a workout last weekend, as Israel Abanikanda ran wild over Virginia Tech for 326 yards and six touchdowns. Abanikanda's standing in school and national record books was updated with each long gain recorded and touchdown scored.
The eye test alone will tell you how impressive Abanikanda's been so far this year but a deeper dive into the Pitt record books and national leaderboards tells you just how special what we're watching is.
1. Climbing in Pitt's Record Books
Abanikanda is on pace to join some elite company among Pitt rushers. If he puts up the same kind of gaudy numbers he's recorded through six games, Abanikanda will finish the year with roughly 280 attempts for 1,798 yards and 26 touchdowns - numbers that have been even approached by only a handful of others from the school's proud linage of runners.
Only Tony Dorsett and Dion Lewis have rushed for more yards in a season and 26 scores would tie the single-season mark set by James Conner in 2016. This is more than just a handful of good games - it's the best first half by a Pitt running back this side of Dorsett's 1976 Heisman Trophy season.
2. Walter Camp Campaign is on
Abanikanda's bonkers Week 6 performance earned him Player of the Week honors from the Walter Camp Football Foundation, which also gives out a prestigious Player of the Year award at the end of the season. 27 running backs have won it over the award's 54 years and Abanikanda is on pace to out-rush 13 of them while scoring more rushing touchdowns than 22.
He is set to shatter the marks that Michigan State star tailback Kenneth Walker set last season when he won that same award over the likes of Bryce Young, Kenny Pickett, Aidan Hutchinson and Jordan Davis. Defensive lineman Hugh Green in 1980 is the only other Panther to have ever won it.
3. Carrying the Scoring Burden
There are four individual seasons from running backs in the long history of Pitt football that compare to the pace Abanikanda is on now - Dorsett in 1976 when he won the Heisman, Heyward's 1987 All-American campaign, Lewis' stunning rookie season in 2009 and James Conner's 2014 in which he won ACC Player of the Year. These four are the only seasons in which a Panther has rushed for more than 1,700 yards and Abanikanda is on pace to overtake all of them except Dorsett's 1976 total.
But what makes Abanikanda's campaign stand out among those impressive years is how crucial he's to keeping this offense above water. The Panthers are averaging 35 points per game through six weeks and a lot of their best work can be traced back to Abanikanda.
As of right now, Abanikanda is responsible for 34% of Pitt's total offensive yards, a larger share than Conner's from 2014. He owns 48% of the team's total touchdowns scored this season and 37% of its total points scored - more than can be said for Lewis' 2009 and Heyward's 1987. Of the 30 plays that have gone for 20 or more yards so far this season, Abanikanda's caught or carried the ball on 12 of them.
Keep in mind that his six games have been disjointed - he was not the featured back in the season opener against West Virginia and missed more than two quarters against Georgia Tech with a shoulder injury.
4. Stud Among Studs
Abanikanda currently leads the country in all-purpose yards, rushing touchdowns and total points scored. He trails Chase Brown, the nation's leader in rushing, by 40 yards and has gotten there with 21 fewer attempts. He trails Brown's total yards from scrimmage mark by 44 yards and has 30 fewer total rushes and receptions. The last time a Pitt running back led the FBS in rushing was Heyward in 1987 and he needed 387 carries to get there.
Simply put, Abanikanda's explosiveness is something no one else in the country has. Even Pitt and its decorated history of runners doesn't have a reference point for what Abanikanda is doing and how he's doing it.
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