Abanikanda, Pitt run game, inspires confidence for 2022

When Pitt hired Frank Cignetti Jr. to be the offensive coordinator, Pat Narduzzi knew part of the Panthers' plan moving forward was to lean on the run game. Not only would Pitt be returning its entire starting offensive line from its 2021 ACC Championship team, but it would be returning its three-headed monster of a backfield in Israel "Izzy" Abanikanda, Vincent Davis and Rodney Hammond II.

Pitt resumed spring practices this week after taking off last week during spring break, but it was right back at work at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex Tuesday.

While the offense lost its captain and star quarterback Kenny Pickett, it would be keeping an experienced group that helped the Panthers close out several opponents on the way to their 11-3 season with their first New Year's Six bowl game appearance under Narduzzi. The excitement around new additions in the Transfer Portal like quarterback Kedon Slovis and receiver Konata Mumpfield bring promise for the passing game to still be a threat, but Narduzzi sees the returning assets in his ground game as being a focal point for 2022.

"When making the hire, we thought the run game would be more important," Narduzzi said of bringing Cignetti to the program. "With the last hire (Mark Whipple), we knew the pass game would be more important when we lost a lot of our running backs and offensive linemen. This year, the run game will be more important. It has to get better though and we've worked at that over the last three years."

Narduzzi's right about the transition that needed to happen after 2018, the first time his team won the ACC Coastal Division and played in the ACC Championship Game. The Panthers leaned on a ground game that ranked third in the ACC that season by averaging 227.9 rushing yards per game. After losing several of those offensive linemen and running backs to the NFL Draft, the team had to focus in being more pass-oriented on offense with Whipple.

Needless to say, the investment proved worthwhile as that passing offense ended up leading Pitt to having one of the best units in the country, Pickett finishing third place in the Heisman Trophy voting, the Panthers doubling up on their ACC Coastal Division trophies and nabbing their first ACC Championship Game trophy.

But now the Panthers have to work the other direction. Fortunately they have a group of backs along with a returning offensive line that inspires confidence in their ability to run the ball and control games.

"He's a total back," Narduzzi said of Abanikanda. "He improved in pass protection, but he really ran the ball well and made plays when he had opportunities. I always think about that jump-cut he made in the ACC Championship Game. His vision has gotten a lot better."

In 2021 Abanikanda took 123 rushes for 651 yards for a 5.3 yards per carry average, seven rushing touchdowns, and 26 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Two of those rushing touchdowns came against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Game when he took nine carries for 55 yards.

"Nothing's changed," Abanikanda said. "I have to have the same mindset because my spot can get taken every day. Last year I learned how to use my speed, change directions, and stop and go. I'm starting to get used to it, and last season was great. Not only for me, but for the whole team it was great. We still want to get better. The National Championship is the goal now."

But Abanikanda very much shares the backfield with Davis and Hammond, as between Davis' 142 carries and Hammond's 101 carries, all three running backs had over 100 rushes while there being only a distance of 41 carries from Abanikanda to Hammond. There's no doubt that Abanikanda looks to be Pitt's best back, but Pitt's offense found a way to balance all three to be dynamic threats. 

Offensive line coach Dave Borbely notices how all three running backs are honing their abilities as a group, and how dynamic Abanikanda has become for Pitt's offense.

"Izzy is a really dynamic runner," Borbely said. "He's got speed and he breaks tackles. He hits holes so fast and you can feel his confidence when he runs the ball. Last year you could tell there was some indecision. This spring him and all our backs have been very confident. I sometimes can't tell who's running the ball because all three of them look the same by breaking tackles and running hard in practice. But Izzy especially is such a powerful runner with speed who's a hard guy to deal with."

The fact that Abanikanda has to share much of the carries with his fellow running backs doesn't bother him or them, as they all see each other as healthy competition for carries who can make each other better.

"We keep competing," Abanikanda. "That's all I focus on sometimes because we all know it can be a great advantage. When one of us gets tired, the next guy comes in, and we keep doing that rotation and it's perfect."

That's not the only competition that's going on for Pitt's run game in spring practices, as Borbely pointed out that there's plenty of advantages to facing a run defense whose 91.2 rushing yards allowed last season was sixth-best in the country. Facing that group every day during practice is a source of pride and confidence when the run game finds success, even during indoor practices against teammates.

"Our message to our guys all spring is that our defense is one of the best in the country against the run," Borbely said. "If we're running the ball well against our defense, we can feel good about how we'll run the ball this season. The last four years we have really struggled to run the ball against our defense. But this year, we've run the ball in practice. I'll have more guys to play this year which lets us be fresher in the fourth quarter so that Carter Warren isn't playing 95 snaps and isn't tired late in games."

Narduzzi indicated that during a red zone drill Abanikanda scored on a strong touchdown run. It's clear about the increased emphasis the run game will have in 2022, and how the Panthers might look to wear down opponents.

"It's a pound the rock mentality," Borbely said. "Sometimes the rock isn't going to crack on the first couple of hits. The run game is about getting your pads set, knowing how the defense is trying to play you, how they move their fronts and it takes time for players to feel that out. But as the game goes, we'll get stronger."

Even though Cignetti is a new offensive coordinator who's trying to increase the run game's output, it's apparent he's not trying to reinvent the wheel for Pitt's offense.

"Our running backs have been learning half of a new offense," Narduzzi said. "There's a lot of things that are the same, but there's other stuff that's brand new. They've all been mature in approaching the game and getting in extra work and extra tape time. You can see right now, running backs are right down there working on catching the ball. They're all working on their game after practices."

"We've run a lot of the same concepts," Borbely said of changes in the offense under Cignetti. "Frank told me he didn't want to change anything we did up front with techniques and calls. So that's let me just incorporate everything we've done over the last few years to work into his offense. There's some name switches in our calls, but that's like calling a play apples one year and bananas the next."

Abanikanda said that's been Cignetti's approach as well when it's come to how the running backs have played.

"He hasn't spoken with me individually, but he's talked to us as a group," Abanikanda said of CIgnetti. "He wants us as running backs to run the ball the same way we did last year and keep working. He just wants us to do what we do."

Both Davis' 2020 season and Abanikanda's 2021 seasons were examples of Pitt running backs finding their feet in their sophomore seasons to be featured more in the offense. But rising sophomore Hammond is coming from a different position as he already had a strong season as a freshman with 569 scrimmage yards on 102 touches for seven touchdowns. He became Pitt's closer running back in several games last season, but also ran the ball throughout games in critical moments, earning the respect from his coaches and teammates to be able to handle those moments.

"Really don't, not the way you would guess," Narduzzi said of Hammond hitting a freshman wall. "Rodney just kept grinding all year. He was consistently pretty strong as far as not hitting that freshman wall, for sure. He's one of the better ones."

Part of Pitt's 2021 identity was being able to run the ball at the end of games after Pickett aired out opposing defenses to provide a fourth quarter lead the Panthers could protect. Super senior guard Marcus Minor explained how that identity became something the offensive line hung its hat on and played a part in why they all wanted to return in 2022.

"It was a huge sense of pride," Minor said of Pitt being able to close out games by running the ball. "We were able to look forward to closing a lot of games and it's something we look to build on. After each game we thought that if we did it once, we could do it twice. If we did it twice, we could keep doing it to whoever we faced. It's a goal for us that we want to keep making that happen."

"We love it," Abanikanda said of the entire offensive line returning. "As soon as they said that, we were onboard and we loved it the whole way. It's great for not just me, but all the running backs."

For Borbely, it gave him another year to hone the skills of his offensive line while getting more complex with what the coaching staff can dial up with such an experienced group. Much like Pitt's running backs, Cignetti has told Borbely he doesn't want to make Pitt's offensive line change from the direction it's had in recent years to build upon their success.

"I had several individual conversation with those kids," Borbely said of his offensive line. "They all asked if it was worth it to come back, and the answer was always yes. We've more than scratched the surface, but we can improve everyone's game. When you're a freshman, you take 100 level classes and sophomore you take 200 level classes. But right now we're working at the graduate level. The fundamentals don't change, but we can take it further schematically from an understanding standpoint and build more on what we've done for the last three years. We can also sharpen all of their fundamentals and techniques. That's not a slight, it's a good thing."

In addition to Pitt's offensive line returning as a whole, Pitt not losing any of its primary running backs to the Transfer Portal is a very positive sign for the state of the program. Sharing carries between two running backs can be tricky to balance without overloading one player's duties and limiting another's who might take the lack of opportunities as an insult and leave for another program that might feature them. 

All of that shows the culture Narduzzi has built into Pitt football that makes players want to stick around when other opportunities could be presented to them.

"It says a lot about our culture as a team," Borbely said of his offensive line returning. "It says a lot about the culture of this room, and how coach Narduzzi runs the program. I think they feel really good about the coaching they get. It says the most about how our guys feel about how they're treated every day."

And make no mistake, just because Pitt plans to run the ball more effectively in 2022 does not mean the Panthers will ignore the pass game. Narduzzi and Cignetti are fully aware of the receiving threats they have in Jordan Addison, Mumpfield, Jared Wayne and Gavin Bartholomew, among others. 

"Jordan Addison's going to get the ball," Naduzzi said. "We've got weapons all over the place but that will make the defense realize we're two-dimensional, and not one-dimensional. That will open up more big passes."