Wisconsin may finally have a back who can put the Badgers back in the conversation for “RBU.”
Abu Sama arrives in Madison with a résumé that already stands out. The Iowa State transfer piled up 1,933 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns over three seasons in Ames, and he did it while working mostly as the RB2 - and as the RB3 during his freshman year. Now he’s lined up as Wisconsin’s clear lead runner heading into his senior season.
That matters because Sama looks built to carry the load. At 5-foot-11 and 211 pounds, he runs with real power and doesn’t shy away from contact.
He’ll drop a shoulder and try to run straight through a defender. But that’s only part of the package.
Sama also brings unexpected wiggle, with spins, hurdles and enough open-field agility to make defenders miss after the initial collision.
The tape backs it up. He can slip past linemen and linebackers, then overpower defensive backs when the play breaks down. That kind of blend should translate well in the Big Ten, where games often turn into a test of who can absorb the most punishment and keep coming.
CBS Sports’ Cody Nagel put numbers to the eye test, and Sama landed among the nation’s toughest backs to bring down. In Nagel’s tackles avoided on rushes leaders, Sama checked in at No. 8 nationally.
The key number is tackles avoided per rush, and Sama’s mark of 0.33 means he breaks a tackle roughly every third carry. With 145 touches last fall, that works out to nearly 50 missed tackles forced in a single season.
He was also the only Big Ten running back to make the top 10 on that list, which gives him a clear statistical case as the conference’s most elusive ball-carrier.
And he won’t be doing it alone. Wisconsin’s backfield also includes Darrion Dupree, a shifty receiving threat, and Bryan Jackson, the burly USC transfer, along with a few other possible contributors.
If Wisconsin’s offensive line can move closer to the standard the program expects, and if it plays with renewed fire and passion under new position coach Eric Mateos, Sama should have room to work. If that happens, a career year is right there for the taking.
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