Wisconsin and Penn State are set to take the field tomorrow in Happy Valley to get Big Ten play started. This season, the Big Ten is requiring each team to submit multiple availability reports for their conference games throughout the week leading up to the game. The first availability report for the two teams looked like a fairly similar list of players, with a handful of players in each category: out, questionable, and probable.
Now, on the second submission, Wisconsin's is looking a lot healthier than Penn State's. Wisconsin's first report had 13 total players on it compared to 16 for Penn State. The Nittany Lions had nine listed as out, and Wisconsin only had four. Wisconsin listed five players as questionable, and Penn State had six.
However, the newest report for Penn State now has 11 players listed as out and four as questionable, with only one player left as probable: Omarion Davis. That's in drastic contrast to Wisconsin's four as out and three as questionable, and now six as probable. And there are some important names on both of these two teams' lists.
Notable Entries on Wisconsin and Penn State's availability report
Malachi Coleman moving up from questionable to probable is maybe the biggest news on the Wisconsin side. He was a breakout star in Week 1 versus Notre Dame, but then was pulled out in the opening minutes of the Western Illinois game with a head injury. The fact that he's probable is huge news for Colton Joseph and Wisconsin.
Abu Sama III also moved up from questionable to probable, but he was always going to play. He told reporters early in the week that he was 100% going to play. So his questionable status may have had more to do with reps than the actual likelihood of playing.
For Penn State, the big name is star sophomore wide receiver Koby Howard. He's arguably one of the most explosive wideouts in the Big Ten, and he's now on the mend for a few weeks. That's a big loss for the Nittany Lions, and they will have to look deeper on the depth chart for help.
Max Granville is another name that's an important loss for Penn State. He was never going to play in this one, so it's not as notable in terms of current news, but it is notable if you didn't already know. He's an impact defensive lineman who could cause havoc.
Brock Riker is the starting center for Penn State, but he's most likely playing. His status as questionable, though, is something worth monitoring leading up to the game.
A lot of the other injuries on Penn State's depth chart aren't as notable, and many are depth players and/or players who would have had moderate to low impact. The numbers are startling in comparison to each other, to see so many Nittany Lions out versus barely any for Wisconsin. The big names for Penn State are Howard, Granville, and Riker. For Wisconsin, missing Bates is a bummer, but having Sama, Coleman, Mandell, and Hilton back is huge.
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