Mack Brown calls Pittsburgh's Israel Abanikanda 'the best running back in the country'

Coming off of the bye week, the North Carolina Tar Heels have had extra time to prepare for Week 9 opponent the Pittsburgh Panthers. It’s extra preparation they’ll need to try to limit Pitt star running back Israel Abanikanda.

On Monday, Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown called Abanikanda the best running back in the country.

“Pat (Narduzzi) loves to run the ball and be physical, they’ve got the best running back in the country, he’s leading the nation in rushing,” Brown said.

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Brown says Abanikanda leads the nation, which he does in rushing touchdowns with 13, however, he’s fourth in rushing yards per game (137) and total yards (959). Through seven games, the 5-foot-11, 215-pound back is averaging 6.1 yards per carry.

Despite his overall statistics, Abanikanda has proven to be fallible. He suffered a shoulder injury in the Panthers’ loss versus Georgia Tech and finished with 10 carries for just 31 yards. He also had just 15 yards in the season opener versus West Virginia. All of his other performances this season, however, have been 125+ yard games. Abanikanda’s best performance so far came against Virginia Tech. He had 320 yards on 36 carries with six touchdowns.

“He’s so thick and he’s really hard to tackle,” Brown said. “He’s got really good patience and he just breaks so many tackles and when he breaks a tackle he goes for explosive plays. You don’t rush for 320 yards unless you’re really good… He’s so impressive.”

Kickoff on Saturday is at 8 p.m. ET and the game broadcast will be on ACC Network.

Brown: ‘It’s fun to be ranked’

Over the last two polls, North Carolina has finally worked their way into the Top-25. The 6-1 Tar Heels have had a fairly underrated season considering some of the more often discussed teams in the ACC. Still, regardless of ranking or position, Brown wants his team focused on the things that actually matter.

Brown spoke about UNC’s ranking during media availability on Monday morning. He says it’s a ‘fun’ thing but that the only actual rankings that matter are the ones related to the College Football Playoff, specifically the final one.

“It’s fun to be ranked. The guys haven’t had a lot of attention this year. A lot of people are talking about the Coastal race, a lot of people are talking about the conference championship game. And I told them let’s put all of that to be on Sunday. Because the only ranking that matters is the one at the end of the year,” said Brown. “The resumes start with the first College Football Playoff (ranking). That’s when people have some idea of where the experts think you should be rated.”