Luke Fickell Provides Promising Abu Sama Injury Update Ahead of Penn State Showdown

Wisconsin's star running back Abu Sama could see the field this week in a huge road clash with No. 13 Penn State.

Speaking to reporters at his weekly press conference, head coach Luke Fickell provided an update on the status of the Badgers' top ball-carrier as Wisconsin prepares to open conference play against a stacked Nittany Lions team.

"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."

Sama has a shot to return

Wisconsin Badgers running back Abu Sama III. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As Fickell mentioned, the tailback was cleared to play against Eastern Michigan. If Wisconsin was in more dire straits, it might've had Sama suit up against the Eagles. But with a deep running back room and an offense that didn't need a proficient ground game to thoroughly handle Eastern Michigan, the staff was more comfortable preserving Sama's health and not risking anything in what wound up being a dominant victory.

So if Sama could've played last week, but the staff made the executive decision to hold him out, it tracks that the tailback is trending towards playing in Happy Valley. After all, what else would the Badgers be saving him for?

Wisconsin did exactly what was expected of it in out-of-conference play. It got beat pretty handily by Notre Dame before blowing out Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan. Now, the Badgers have a chance to knock off a top-15 opponent and start their season 3-1, which would certainly jettison them into the AP Top 25. It makes perfect sense that Wisconsin would want to preserve Sama for that game.

Sama's return would be extremely welcome. Last week, Badgers ball-carriers struggled to get going on the ground despite the dominant victory. Darrion Dupree ran for 29 yards and a score on eight carries, while Nate Palmer had seven carries for 29 yards and Bryan Jackson logged five for 17.

If Sama is forced to sit out once again, Dupree would likely handle the majority of the reps in Wisconsin's backfield once again.

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