Pregame: Wisconsin to be without leading tackler and receiver against Nebraska

By Evan Bland

Pregame: Wisconsin to be without leading tackler and receiver against Nebraska

LINCOLN -- Wisconsin will be without two of its best players in a revelation the school made in the run-up to kickoff Saturday.

Receiver Will Pauling and safety Hunter Wohler are listed as out for the Badgers, who tangle with Nebraska at 2:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Neither has missed a game this season but both left last week's game against Oregon with injuries.

Pauling -- with a team-leading 42 catches and three receiving touchdowns along with 407 receiving yards -- had held an unknown status all week. Ditto for Wohler, UW's leading tackler with 63 and a key defensive communicator within the secondary. His six pass breakups also lead the defense.

Receiver Trech Kekahuna (16 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns) is likely to see an increased workload in Pauling's absence.

Nebraska moves forward without cornerback Tommi Hill, who will miss the rest of the regular season recovering from a foot injury. Listed as questionable are running back Rahmir Johnson and Micah Mazzccua, who rotated in at left tackle for 42 snaps last week at USC. Johnson saw nine offensive snaps against UCLA in his most recent action and previously played against Indiana before that.

A major sports weekend continues for Nebraska after its men's basketball team upset No. 14 Creighton on Friday night while its No. 21 women's team fell to the Bluejays. No. 2 Husker volleyball hosts No. 6 Wisconsin at the Devaney Center at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The football meeting brings together two offenses that have replaced offensive coordinators in the last two weeks. It's game two for Nebraska's Dana Holgorsen while the Badgers fired Phil Longo last weekend and coach Luke Fickell declined this week to name who is calling plays now.

Wisconsin has won 10 straight in the head-to-head series since 2012. A Nebraska victory would end that skid -- tied for the school's second longest against a single opponent -- and secure an elusive sixth win and bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016.

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