Israel Abanikanda: RB · Pittsburgh · #2.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Israel Abanikanda
Hits the crease and outruns the angle. Third year in the Pittsburgh backfield. All-America (CBS) in 2022 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 320 rushing yards and 6 rushing TD against Virginia Tech — Week 6, 2022.
Play style
Cuts upfield fast. Designed to find the crease, not run through the line.
Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share
Not actually a closer
48.5% of carries overall (236/487) → 36.1% of Q4-with-lead carries (35/97) — 74.3% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.
Counted from the play-by-play, so a carry or two can differ from the box score.
Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration
Who gets the tough yard
14 of 16 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (87.5%). 11 of the team's 20 inside-the-5 carries (55.0%).
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Oct 24Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Pittsburgh | 239 | 1,431 | 6.0 | 20 | 80 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 123 | 651 | 5.3 | 7 | 28 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 28 | 95 | 3.4 | 1 | 10 |
| Career | 390 | 2,177 | 5.6 | 28 | 80 |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 146 | 12.2 | 1 | 37 |
| 2021 | Pittsburgh | 24 | 197 | 8.2 | 1 | 25 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 1 | 15 |
| Career | 38 | 354 | 9.3 | 3 | 37 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 11 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-31vs West Virginia | 8 | 15 | 1.9 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 2 | L 27-34vs No. 24 Tennessee | 25 | 154 | 6.2 | 1 | 76 | 154-yard day |
| Wk 3 | W 34-13@ Western Michigan | 31 | 133 | 4.3 | 1 | 23 | |
| Wk 4 | W 45-24vs Rhode Island | 19 | 177 | 9.3 | 4 | 67 | 4 rushing TDs |
| Wk 5 | L 21-26vs Georgia Tech | 10 | 31 | 3.1 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 6 | W 45-29vs Virginia Tech | 36 | 320 | 8.9 | 6 | 80 | Season-high 320 yds |
| Wk 8 | L 10-24@ Louisville | 28 | 129 | 4.6 | 1 | 36 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-42@ No. 21 North Carolina | 26 | 127 | 4.9 | 3 | 22 | 3 rushing TDs |
| Wk 11 | W 37-7@ Virginia | 24 | 121 | 5.0 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 12 | W 28-26vs Duke | 17 | 113 | 6.6 | 1 | 26 | |
| Wk 13 | W 42-16@ Miami | 15 | 111 | 7.4 | 2 | 37 | |
| Total | 239 | 1431 | 6.0 | 20 | 80 |
Week 6 · 2022
W 45-29
320 rush yds (36 car) · 6 TD
Edged out Virginia Tech at home in a shootout.
With S. Vander Haar — 39.3 yards per punt · 6 punts · 2 inside the 20 · K. Slovis — 170 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · QBR 27.9
The plays that mattered most
Rush profile · Shape, efficiency, and ball security
How he gets his yards, and how often it works
Success rate
48%238 carriesFumble rate
1.3%3 of 239 carries · 1 lostStuffed
0 or fewer ydsGrind
1–3 ydsChunk
4–9 ydsExplosive
10+ yds6.0 yds/carry on 239 carries · 16% explosive (10+ yds) · 48% success rate.
Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)
Yardage DNA
Stuffed (≤0)
Grind (1–3)
Chunk (4–9)
Explosive (10+)
3 seasons under Pat Narduzzi — 26-12 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 135 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| Road5g | 124 | 5.2 | 1.6 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 138 | 5.6 | 2.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 120 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pat Narduzzi
Pass share
43.7%
391 pass / 503 run
Plays / game
68.8
13 games
Team sack rate
4.1%
410 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2022
First team on a list outside the NCAA-recognized selectors.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #11 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2022
How it ended
Three seasons at Pittsburgh, 2,177 rushing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — drafted at #143 overall by the New York Jets.
A stat line in 29 games over three seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2022)
named by 2 selectors
ALL-ACC · 1ST TEAM
All-ACC 1st team (2022)
Weekly recognition
4 weekly honors (2022)
5 career weekly honors across 2 seasons — a 4+ season has tracked to All-Conference ~83% of the time
Coaching lineage · 2020–2022
1 coachPlayed every college season under Pat Narduzzi.
Next stop · NFL
New York JetsEntering 4th NFL season
New York JetsEntering 4th NFL season
