BYU’s ground game has spent the opening stretch of 2026 looking like a problem defenses don’t want any part of.
Through three games, the Cougars have piled up 788 rushing yards and are averaging 6.7 yards per carry. That includes a 332-yard explosion at Colorado State last weekend. Pro Football Focus has BYU graded as the No. 2 rushing offense in the country, trailing only Georgia.
The schedule hasn’t exactly been brutal yet. BYU has already faced a conference opponent in Arizona, but the other two games came against Group of Six and FCS competition. Still, the numbers are loud enough to demand attention, and there’s a real case that the Cougars can keep it rolling once the schedule stiffens.
History says this kind of pace would put BYU in rare air. Only one Cougars team has ever topped 3,000 rushing yards in a season, the 2013 group led by Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, which finished with 3,475 yards in 13 games. BYU has also cracked five yards per carry over a full season only on five occasions: 1983, 2001, 2013, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
This team has a chance to join that list.
LJ Martin is still the engine. He earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and now sits 131 yards shy of becoming BYU’s fourth 3,000-yard career rusher. Add another 1,033 yards and he would pass Williams for the program’s all-time rushing record.
The Cougars win when Martin is featured. They are 17-2 all-time when he gets at least 15 carries, and his 20 second-half touches against Arizona helped spark BYU’s comeback earlier this month. The senior from El Paso, Texas, should already be part of the Doak Walker Award discussion if he isn’t there yet.
What makes this version of the offense even more dangerous is that Martin no longer looks like he has to carry the whole thing by himself.
Preston Rex, Journee Tonga and DeVaughn Eka have all shown something in early action. Tonga has run 12 times for 129 yards, while Rex and Eka have combined for 160 yards on 22 carries.
That’s before even accounting for the loss of Sione Moa to a season-ending injury. Even with that setback, the backfield feels deeper than expected, and the offensive line in front of it is doing heavy work.
The run game also stretches beyond the tailbacks. Freshman receiver Legend Glasker has already become BYU’s jet sweep threat and has two touchdowns on those touches. And then there’s Bear Bachmeier, who brought 527 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns as a true freshman a year ago.
Bachmeier’s rushing volume has dropped this season - he has only 12 carries across three games after running more than 10 times per game in 2025 - but the threat is still there. When he does run, he averages more than halfway to a first down. The former fullback is still built to punish defenses that lose track of him.
Just as important, Bachmeier’s growth as a passer changes the math for everyone else. Load the box to slow Martin, and he can answer through the air. Sit back to limit Glasker, and Kyler Kasper, BYU’s tight end group and the backs can work underneath and inside.
That’s the shape of this offense: choose your poison, then deal with the consequences.
The path to a monster season is right there. If BYU gets to the Big 12 championship game, it will play 14 games in 2026, with even more possible if the Cougars reach the College Football Playoff and win a first-round game. At that pace, they would need a little over 200 rushing yards per game over the next 11 outings to reach 3,000.
Push that number to 245 per game, and BYU could threaten the 2013 record. Even 186 per game would be enough to move past 2001 for second on the school’s single-season list.
That’s not some impossible ask, either. In 2025, BYU averaged 178 rushing yards per game despite less depth at receiver, with Martin and Bachmeier accounting for 72% of the carries and Martin missing time with injuries. This year’s setup looks more favorable, and 200 rushing yards a week feels well within reach.
If Martin, Bachmeier and the rest keep rolling like this, the Cougars may not just chase school records. They might run themselves straight into the Playoff.
In Other News...
BYU Cross Country Lands In A Modesty Debate Fans Wont Ignore
Recent training images of BYU cross country athletes in minimal athletic attire have stirred up a familiar kind of offseason chatter, this time centered on where practicality ends and university standards begin. The debate has quickly spread beyond the team itself, with some questioning whether the gear fits BYU and LDS Church expectations for modesty while others point out that it is ordinary training apparel in a sport built around comfort, movement and performance.
The timing makes the conversation a little more noticeable because BYUs mens and womens programs are still carrying plenty of national weight after recent NCAA Division I titles. For a team that stays in the championship conversation, even routine practice photos can become part of a bigger discussion about image, identity and what fans think a BYU athlete should look like on campus and on the course. [Read more 🡒]
USC Faces A Week 4 Test That Could Reshape Everything
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Injuries and schedule pressure only add to the uncertainty, especially with so many contenders still trying to prove they can survive the early grind. USCs test is one of the most intriguing because it could reshape not just its own playoff path, but the outlook around the sport if the Trojans come out flat or deliver a statement performance. With conference races still forming and postseason hopes hanging on every major matchup, this is the kind of week that can turn a promising start into something much more consequential. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Next Wave Is Giving Cougars Fans A Real Reason To Believe
BYUs recent recruiting work is starting to look a lot less theoretical and a lot more real, because true freshmen are already finding ways to matter. The Cougars have been able to lean on young players sooner than expected, and that gives the program a different kind of momentum as it keeps building toward the next few signing cycles. It is the sort of development that can change how a fan base views the roster, not just for what it is today but for what it may become.
The next wave is already coming into focus with several 2027 prospects who fit the profile BYU has been targeting: productive high school players with enough upside to help quickly once they arrive in Provo. Some of those recruits are drawing competing offers, while others come with a thinner statistical record because of injuries or missing data, which only adds to the intrigue around how their games will translate. For BYU, the appeal is obvious, because the Cougars are not just chasing talent, they are trying to keep stacking enough of it that the future feels a little closer every week. [Read more 🡒]