Sione Moa looks like a player who never lost the confidence in the room, even after last season’s health scare threatened to derail everything.
After a recent fall practice session, the BYU running back met with the media sounding like a guy who expects to be a real factor this season. That confidence is backed up by what the Cougars have seen from him since spring. Moa has made it through fall camp without any apparent setbacks, and all signs point to him being fully available again.
His road back was no small thing. Last season, the Timpview product was hit with acute compartment syndrome in his right leg, a blow that ended his year after the third game against East Carolina. He did return for a brief appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game against Texas Tech nearly three months later, but the damage had already been done.
Now, though, Moa says he’s back to full strength.
“I feel great, honestly,” Moa said. “Yeah, it’s been a long road to recovery, but I think we have the best training room, the best sports science people in the nation, and so I’ve been able to get back from my injury basically 100% now. So I’m ready to go.”
That matters for BYU, because Moa’s role appears to be bigger than just giving starting running back LJ Martin a few more breathers. From what coaches have said and from what has shown up in open practices, Moa has been working alongside Martin in a way that gives the Cougar offense a different look.
“Sione, like LJ, is a good runner. He’s also a good blocker and he is a very good receiver.
Sione is a super athlete - one of the best athletes on our team,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. ” … He was one of our best players last year until he got hurt and the year before.”
That kind of versatility makes him more than just a change-of-pace option. It also opens the door for more two-back sets than BYU fans have been used to seeing in recent years, with Moa now looking like one of the best 11 on the field.
Moa likes the direction the offense is headed, too.
“I love it. I think the offense has definitely improved from last year,” he said.
“I have my mentor at running back, LJ, right next to me. He’s like my best friend in the backfield, like SpongeBob and Patrick, you know?
It’s like we’re one and two. So it’s exciting to see not only him, but the whole O-line, the receivers, (and) Bear (Bachmeier), getting to know the playbook even more.
It’s been awesome to see all of us improve all together.”
He also knows that earning steady playing time means handling the full job, not just the fun part. For Moa, that means proving he can help as a runner, a receiver and in protection.
“Probably the thing that I want to work on most is my pass-(blocking), hoping to be that sixth lineman,” Moa said. “Like you’ve heard in many interviews, Bear, the quarterback, they make the most money. We got to protect him … So that’s my number one goal coming into Utah Tech - to show coaches that I’m able to do all three: run the ball, pass the ball, and block for the QB.”
Now entering his redshirt sophomore season, Moa says his focus is on helping BYU get over the hump after the Cougars fell one game short of a College Football Playoff berth in each of the last two seasons.
“Finish the job. That’s, I think, (where) we’ve come up short my freshman year, (and) my sophomore year, so I’m excited to see how we all bounce back from these past few years and just get things done this time,” he concluded.
“I think that’s obviously everyone’s goal, but I hope-and I see it every single day in the locker room, in the weight room-that we’re determined, and that fire under us is continuing to burn. And so I’m excited to get that chance to finish what we started.”
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