Make no mistake: It’s clear Israel Abanikanda is Pitt’s top running back.
But that doesn’t mean that the Panthers will go away from their heavy rotation in the backfield.
Last year, Abanikanda led Pitt with 651 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. But it was Vincent Davis who led the team with 142 carries to Abanikanda’s 123, and Rodney Hammond Jr. wasn’t too far behind with 102 carries of his own. Each running back averaged over four yards per carry — Abanikanda had the highest average with 5.3 yards per carry — and were important factors in different wins last season.
There’s a clear sense when you watched Pitt’s Monday practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex that Abanikanda’s explosiveness makes him this year’s top candidate. That only adds to the pedigree he established with big performances like his 140 rushing yards against Virginia Tech last year and his two touchdowns against Wake Forest in Pitt’s ACC championship game win.
In today’s college football environment, many players transfer to new programs to be the top player in a position room or put in a more featured role to help their chances to make the NFL. Whether you ask Abanikanda, Davis or Hammond, none of them think about that during practice.
"We're all sharing carries and working right now," Abanikanda said about the rotation last Friday. "We're just trying to get better as a team. Everything is equally spread out."
"We're still figuring it out," Hammond said about the rotation during Pitt’s media day. "We don't really know how it's going to be, but we're comfortable with however it goes. I'm not worried about it."
"Whoever gets hot goes in," Davis added, "and if you're hot, you stay in."
Each of the running backs could look at each other as opponents who fight over the same carries in a new offense under offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. Instead, they meet up every week for dinners where they watch, talk about and enjoy football.
"We all embrace each other," Davis said. "Thursday nights before we travel, we all meet up at someone's house, we cook and watch a game together. We all have that bond with each other. It's like, 'That's my boy,' and we know we can lean on each other."
Davis may be the best example of how Pitt’s running backs are comfortable sharing the load with each other. In 2020, he was Pitt’s top running back and finished the season with 247 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries to help Pitt beat Georgia Tech. Instead of being made the team’s primary running back after that performance, he became part of the 2021 rotation that helped a pass-heavy offense become one of the best in the country.
Now, there’s an expectation the run will be a bigger focus under Cignetti and all of them will reap the benefits.
"The system we're in now is going to be better than it was before for the running game," Davis said of the new offense, "and with the offensive line the way it is, we're going to run the ball a lot better."
That system has forced some learning curves on an experienced group with Davis as a senior, Abanikanda as a junior and Hammond as a sophomore. But the most challenging part of that learning curve seems to have passed.
"I'm easing into things," Abanikanda said of Cignetti's offense. "In the spring, it was a bit more of a challenge because it was something new. But now, I'm easing into it more and more every day."
"Very easy guy to talk to," Davis said of Cignetti. "It was easy to build a relationship with him. It was hard to learn the plays at first because they were tricky, but once we recognized the system, everything became simple."
Pitt running backs and special teams coach Andrew Powell also noted Cignetti’s offense has taken some time to adjust, but he wouldn’t tip Pitt’s hand as to which running backs might get favored in Pitt’s rotation this year.
"Frank's new; we haven't discussed that yet," Powell said of Cignetti's plan for a running back rotation. "We haven't really discussed that yet. We will once we get close to the game, but right now, there's no solid plan on how that's going to take place. There are other schools like North Carolina, Clemson and Florida State who have the same problem."
For Powell, both Abanikanda and Davis are at the stages of their collegiate careers where they have a good feel for their roles as running backs for Pitt offense. He likes what Hammond brings as a player but wants to see specific improvements this season.
"He had two things to work on," Powell said of Hammond. "First, he had to work in the running game to know what the people around him were doing. If he knew how we targeted a play, he would find more yards. He can really accelerate, but he would guess. Sometimes, he'd guess right, and sometimes, he'd guess wrong. He's also worked on pass protection to make sure his eyes are in the right spot, so he can be in the right spot for the quarterback."
"Last year, I got my feet wet," Hammond said. "I got the taste of what it was like. Now, I know how I have to get better and what areas to improve this year. I have to make sure I play smarter.”
Expect Abanikanda to take the lead on the most carries this season instead of Davis, but don’t be shocked to see each of these backs rotate consistently this season as they did last year. The biggest difference might come in the frequency that each of them gets used as Cignetti balances the offense to be less pass-heavy than it was under Mark Whipple with Kenny Pickett at quarterback.
Christopher Carter: ccarter@post-gazette.com and on Twitter @CarterCritiques
First Published: August 23, 2022, 10:05 p.m.
