Wisconsin's Abu Sama, Emerson Mandell questionable on B1G availability report

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Wisconsin's Abu Sama, Emerson Mandell questionable on B1G availability report

Wisconsin's Abu Sama, Emerson Mandell questionable on B1G availability report

Mark Stewart, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel · Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Thu, Sep 24, 2026 ·

2 min read

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MADISON – The Wisconsin Badgers listed 13 players on its initial availability report for their game with No. 14 Penn State on Sept. 26.

The big news came from the Nittany Lions , who officially listed standout receiver Koby Howard as out for the game. The sophomore leads Penn State in catches (12), receiving yards (344) and average yards per catch (28.7). The nature of the injury is unspecified.

Wisconsin , on the other hand, lists four players as out for the game: receiver Jaylon Domingeaux , defensive lineman Xavier Ukponu (arm), cornerback Cai Bates (undisclosed) and offensive lineman Michael Roeske (undisclosed). None of those injuries has been disclosed, but Domingeaux has been on the sidelines at games with a cast on his arm and Ukponu has been seen with his arm in a brace.

The Badgers questionable players include running back Abu Sama, who said Sept. 22, that he missed last week's game due to a shoulder issue and would be ready to play this week.

Here is the rest of the report:

Questionable:Sama, receiver Malachi Coleman , running back Bryan Jackson, right guard Emerson Mandell and tight end Ryan Schwendeman. Mandell, who is missed all of fall camp (foot), played for the first time last week. Coleman is recovering from what an apparant head injury.

Probable:linebacker Mason Posa , receiver Eugene Hilton, quarterback Danny O'Neil and right tackle Kevin Heywood.

Big Ten unveils new procedure for availability reports

For the past three seasons, the Big Ten has posted availability reports two hours before games.

The process is more extensive this year. Reports will be available four times each week, beginning three days before the game. The process continues with updates two days and one day before the matchup. The deadline for teams to submit their information is 7 p.m. (central) each day.

The gameday availability report will be announced two hours before kickoff.

Listed players will fall into five categories for the first three reports of the week: probable, questionable, doubtful, out or out (1st Half). The designations on the gameday reports are game time decision, out, and out (1st Half).

Badgers coach Luke Fickell said UW followed the injury reporting process during the first three games, though no information was released.

"I wouldn't have wanted to just start something new come Week 1 of the Big Ten," he said. "So I think we decided we're going to go about doing the things the way we need to be able to do them so it's not something new to us."