In No. 9 BYU’s rousing 37-24 win over UCF last Saturday, star sophomore running back LJ Martin ripped off a 6-yard carry the first play of the fourth quarter to surpass the 100-yard rushing plateau for the second-straight week.
Martin was not heard from again — until he appeared in the postgame news conference in a cramped storage room under FBC Mortgage Stadium and said he felt “definitely better” than he did the previous week against Oklahoma State.
That made some folks wonder why BYU’s RB1 didn’t play the rest of the fourth quarter, and why RB2 Hinckley Ropati got the bulk of the carries, backed up by third-stringer Miles Davis, who had two carries.
Will Martin be available in 12 days when BYU (8-0, 5-0) travels to Salt Lake City to take on the slumping Utes (4-4, 1-4) at 8:15 p.m. in a game that will be televised by ESPN?
Absolutely, BYU coach Kalani Sitake said Monday in his weekly press briefing.
“We felt like that was a good move to just keep LJ out,” Sitake said. “He will be fine. He will be ready to play this next game. He is going to be ready to practice this week.”
Martin missed BYU’s games against Wyoming, Kansas State and Baylor, then had 11 carries against Arizona, 20 carries against OSU and 15 against UCF.
“Last week I felt like I was struggling a little bit moving, but I felt a lot better this week,” Martin said.
The El Paso, Texas, product surpassed quarterback Jake Retzlaff on BYU’s leading rushers list; Martin has rushed for 357 yards and five touchdowns, with a long of 24. Retzlaff has rushed for 303 yards and three TDs, with a long of 29.
Ropati is No. 3 on the list, with 49 carries for 284 yards in five games.
“Credit to the O line. They were moving guys out of the way and they were able to make really clear reads for me,” Martin said. “They did a great job all night getting me to the second level as I was trying to make guys miss.”
Sitake said coaches decided to go with the backups in the fourth quarter because the Cougars “had a comfortable lead, a three-score lead,” and added that Martin was a little gimpy.
“He took a shot to the leg. It was just a bruise. It was like, if he doesn’t need to go back in, then we don’t need to put him back out there,” Sitake said. “… He is going to be fine. It was a decision we had to make at that moment.”
Martin, who finished with 101 yards on 15 carries, said he doesn’t mind sharing the load with Ropati, Davis and even freshman Sione I. Moa, star of the Kansas State game. Moa and another back, Enoch Nawahine, have also been hampered by injuries.
Ropati “is my guy,” Martin said. “Ever since I have been out here, he has taken me under his wing. He is like my big brother. Just seeing him go out there and perform the way he did — I have seen him put in the work — that was awesome to see him do that.”
Sitake said the only mistake Martin made was a fumble on a successful third-down run that he somehow managed to get back from the UCF defender. He ran 15 yards for a touchdown on the next play to give BYU a 17-0 lead.
Sitake spent quite a bit of time during his 25-minute news conference talking about the need to correct “some mistakes” like that as the second bye week approaches.
“There is a lot of room for improvement,” Sitake said. “Still feel like we can play so much better, and I am really looking forward to getting that done this week and getting a lot of prep work done this week.”
Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said on his “Coordinators’ Corner” program on BYUtv.org that he would like to get Martin more than 20 carries a game in November, but has also liked what he’s seen from Ropati and the others.
Martin “is coming into his own. He is a very good football player,” Roderick said. “With him missing those games early in the season, it was easy to sort of forget how good he is. And now that he is back, you see him put his stamp on the game two games in a row now. He is a very instinctive runner, very physical runner, breaks tackles. Just a very smart football player. He does it all. Good receiver, pass protector. Can’t say enough good things about him.”
