Badgers starter expects to play vs. Penn State after missing Week 3

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The Wisconsin Badgers cruised to a 54-10 victory against the Penn State Nittany Lions, riding Colton Joseph and a strong defensive performance to a blowout win.

Wisconsin compiled nearly 500 yards of offense on the day, while Joseph had four touchdowns in his best game as a Badger. In addition to his 362 passing yards, he led the Badgers in rushing with 46 yards and a touchdown.

It wasn’t the best day for Wisconsin’s run game, as the team averaged under four yards a carry and went for 117 yards. Abu Sama did not play after dealing with a shoulder issue that kept him as a game-time decision for Saturday. While he was cleared, the Badgers didn’t want to use him unless it was necessary, and it never came to that.

In his place, Darrion Dupree had eight carries for 29 yards, Nate Palmer had seven carries for 29 yards, and Bryan Jackson had five carries for 17 yards. The week before, Sama had gone for 103 yards and a touchdown on his first two touches, but the snap distribution at running back was quite even between him, Dupree, and Jackson.

Sama has dealt with some issue of trying to bounce runs to the outside, rather than go vertical, which has led to his snap count wavering to start the season. But he’s the team’s most explosive back, and the Badgers were hoping to rely on him as a bellcow to start the year.

Now, going into Week 4, the running back told reporters he intends to play against Penn State and is all good from the shoulder injury that kept him out last week.

That is a good sign for the Badgers, who will need all the weapons they can get against Penn State. So far this season, Sama has 156 yards and a touchdown, while averaging 6.8 yards per carry.

Wisconsin faces off against Penn State on Saturday evening, with kickoff set for 5:00 p.m. eastern on Peacock.

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