Through three games, BYU has a clear engine in the backfield, and it’s LJ Martin doing the heavy lifting.
The senior running back has pushed the Cougars to a 3-0 start, and his latest outing at Colorado State only sharpened the case that he belongs in the conversation for the Big 12’s best player. Martin ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns in Fort Collins, a performance that moved him past Taysom Hill on BYU’s all-time rushing list.
Martin now stands No. 6 among the program’s all-time rushers. He’s averaging 5.5 yards per touch and 109.3 yards per game this season, with BYU having beaten Utah Tech, Arizona, and Colorado State along the way.
The numbers keep climbing fast. Martin is the defending Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, and he’s already up to 328 yards this season after posting 1,305 yards in 2025. He still needs 1,032 yards to catch BYU’s all-time leading rusher, Jamaal Williams, who set the mark in 2012.
That kind of chase matters because BYU’s offense is built around Martin. If the Cougars are going to stay in the Big 12 title picture, it’s difficult to picture that happening without him piling up major yardage.
The same logic applies if BYU makes a run at the CFP. Martin has led the team in rushing in each of the last three seasons since 2023, totaling 2,541 yards and 203 touchdowns before this senior campaign got underway.
The depth chart behind him tells the same story. BYU is thin at running back, with Sione Moa out for a second season after suffering an MCL and PCL tear against Utah Tech. Preston Rex has moved over from safety to help ease the workload, while true freshmen Journee Tonga and DeVaughn Eka are waiting in reserve.
BYU is back on the road Thursday, Oct. 3, at TCU. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. CT.
In Other News...
LJ Martin Is Chasing BYU History As A Bigger Concern Emerges
LJ Martin has spent the opening stretch of the 2026 season climbing a pretty significant ladder in BYU history. He entered the year ninth on the Cougars all-time rushing list at 2,541 yards, and after three games he has already moved into sixth with 2,869, passing several notable names along the way as he keeps moving closer to the top of the record book.
For BYU, the chase is becoming a storyline worth monitoring, but so is the way the Cougars handle it. Martin is on pace to threaten the programs all-time rushing mark if he keeps producing at a high level the rest of the way, including any postseason games, yet the staff is also managing his workload so he is at his best when the schedule gets tougher and the biggest opponents arrive later in the season. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Already Has A Rising Freshman Fans Need To Watch
After three games of the 2026 season, BYU already has one freshman making an early case to be impossible to ignore. Legend Glasker has given the Cougars a real jolt on offense, piling up 270 receiving yards while finding the end zone through both the air and on the ground, a burst of versatility that has fit neatly into an attack led by quarterback Bear Bachmeier and supported by an offensive line that has helped keep everything moving.
Bachmeiers start has been steady and productive, with 662 passing yards, six touchdown passes and just one interception, plus added value as a runner, while the line has opened lanes and kept pressure off him. On the other side, linebacker Cade Uluave has set the tone defensively with the team lead in tackles and an interception, but Glaskers rapid rise has already turned him into one of the most interesting young pieces on the roster, especially after earning two Big 12 freshman of the week honors this early in the year. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Gets A Chance To Prove Last Year's TCU Rout Was Real
BYU heads into its bye week with a little extra time to think about what awaits on Oct. 3, when TCU comes to Provo in a Big 12 matchup that should tell a lot more about both teams than the records alone can. The Cougars are favored to win, with ESPN FPI giving them a 68.7% chance and the early spread sitting at 5.5 points, which reflects both BYUs recent momentum and the lingering memory of what happened the last time these programs crossed paths.
TCU still brings a defense that can make life difficult, but the offense has already raised questions after struggling in its loss to North Carolina. For BYU, this is the kind of early league game that can either validate the idea that last years rout was a sign of something real or remind everyone that Big 12 Saturdays tend to reveal more than they promise. [Read more 🡒]