There’s a chance Wisconsin plays Penn State Saturday without its starting running back.
Coach Luke Fickell hopes that isn’t the case, and updated reporters at his weekly press conference Monday.
Fickell said that Abu Sama III could have played Saturday against Eastern Michigan, and as late as pregame warmups, that was the plan.
But ultimately, Wisconsin decided not to play Sama III in a matchup that it was never in jeopardy of losing.
The Penn State game is one Wisconsin will probably need all hands on deck for, and Fickell is hopeful that Sama III will be available.
WHAT FICKELL SAID
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.“He was a guy that was cleared to be able to play last week. “A little bit more of a game-time decision on where he was and what we thought. He warmed up with every intention of playing and going. And I think we just kind of felt like, ‘hey, not sure he was quite ready to be where he needed to be.’ Hopefully he’s a lot further along this week without playing last week (and) without taking some shots. But we won’t know right away. We’ll figure that thing out hopefully here soon.”
WHAT SAMA III BRINGS TO THE TABLE
Sama III is a guy Penn State coach Matt Campbell knows quite well. He played for Campbell at Iowa State for three seasons, eclipsing 500 yards in all three. Sama III went for 614 yards as a true freshman in 2023, then went for 587 the next season, Helping ISU to the Big 12 Championship Game. Last season was his best statistically. Sama III ended 2025 with 732 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 6.8 yards per carry.
At Wisconsin, Sama III went for 49 yards on 15 carries in the opener against Notre Dame, then went off for 107 on eight carries with a touchdown the next week against Western Carolina.
Penn State-Wisconsin is scheduled for 5 at Beaver Stadium on Peacock.
