Wisconsin may be getting its best running back back at exactly the right time.
Ahead of a road trip to face No. 13 Penn State, Luke Fickell sounded optimistic that Abu Sama could be available for the Badgers’ conference opener. The Wisconsin coach said Sama had already been cleared to play last week, but the staff ultimately decided not to use him against Eastern Michigan.
“I would hope. He was a guy that was cleared to be able to play last week.
Little bit more of a game-time decision on where he was and what we thought. But he warmed up with every intention of playing and going, and we just thought, 'hey, not sure he's quite ready to be where he needed to be,'" Fickell said.
“Hopefully he's a lot further along this week without playing last week, without taking some shots. But we won't know right away. We'll figure that thing out soon.”
That decision makes the outlook this week look encouraging. Wisconsin had enough depth in the backfield and enough control in a lopsided win over Eastern Michigan that it could afford to hold Sama out rather than push him into action. With the Badgers now turning to a much bigger stage, the timing lines up for a return in Happy Valley.
Wisconsin rolled through its nonconference slate the way it was expected to, taking a hard loss to Notre Dame before handling Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan. Now comes the chance to grab a top-15 win and move to 3-1, a result that would almost certainly send the Badgers into the AP Top 25.
Sama’s presence would matter. Wisconsin’s other backs had a quiet day on the ground in the win over Eastern Michigan, with Darrion Dupree rushing for 29 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, Nate Palmer finishing with seven carries for 29 yards, and Bryan Jackson adding five carries for 17 yards.
If Sama can’t go again, Dupree would likely be the one asked to shoulder most of the load in Wisconsin’s backfield.
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