Pitt Players, Pat Narduzzi React to Israel Abaniknada's Record-Setting Day
PITTSBURGH -- Typically, the different units of a football team stay separate from one another. It's not often that a defensive player will be in tune with what the offense is doing, but for safety Erick Hallett, it was impossible not to see what the Pitt Panthers and Israel Abanikanda were doing on offense.
Abanikanda rushed for 320 yards, breaking a single game Pitt record held by Tony Dorsett, and six touchdowns and electrified Acrisure Stadium with each of his 36 carries.
"It's hard to ignore the crowd," Hallett said. "He's doing a tremendous job."
Center Jake Kradel was right in the thick of Abanikanda's record-setting performance and could see in real time how he wore out the Virginia Tech defense over the course of a 45-29 win. It was after the sixth and final touchdown that Kradel realized he and the Panthers had dominated the game.
"On Izzy's I think it was 80-yard touchdown, that's when we knew they were broken, they were done and we kept going after them," Kradel said.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis says he enjoyed soaking in the view from behind the offensive line. He watched as the blocks were made before Abanikanda hit the holes and took off with little besides green grass ahead.
"I was telling one of our assistants that I have the best seat in the house. I see the play develop," Slovis said. "I could kind of see on that last one Marcus pulling up and working to the backer and I'm kind of thinking 'Hit it right, hit it right' and of course Izzy hits it perfectly. So I kind of just watch it unfold and once he gets to that second level you know he's gone."
Head coach Pat Narduzzi has coached some fine running backs over the course of his career but still calls Abanikanda special. Narduzzi says he has the full compelement of tools, with speed being the best one.
"His speed. I mean even that one run down inside the 25 yard line that looked like he was stopped on third down or whatever it was, he pops out of there and goes," Narduzzi said. "He's strong, he's physical and he's fast and that's a good combination to have in a running back."
Narduzzi claimed he had no idea Abanikanda was on track to shatter school records throughout the game and, even when he was told, tried to shoo it off and focus on winning the game. But a win allows him the room to celebrate that mark postgame.
"[Associate Athletic Director] Chris LaSala muttered something to me at halftime and I didn't want to hear it," Narduzzi said. "There was something about six touchdowns sputtering around and I didn't know what he was talking about and then he said he was about five yards shy. ... But it's awesome for him. Tony Dorsett is one of the best to ever play at Pitt so that's special."
Narduzzi added that he could have let Abanikanda tote the rock a few more times and expand on his already record marks, but when he suffered an ankle injury late in the game, the coaching staff decided to call it a night.
Still, Abanikanda now has his name in the record books forever. He and the rest of his teammates reveled in being able to share that with him.
"It's amazing," Kradel said. "We're in history now."
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