Even if star running back LJ Martin is unable to play against No. 13 Texas Tech in 12 days, the No. 10 BYU Cougars will have enough talented running backs to fill the sizable void, coach Kalani Sitake said Monday in his weekly press briefing with reporters.
With his undefeated football team enjoying its second open weekend of the 2025 season this week, Sitake said everyone will have to wait until the Wednesday (Nov. 5) before to learn more about Martin’s condition. That’s when BYU’s next injury report is scheduled to be released by the Big 12. Martin sustained an upper-body injury of some sort on the last play of the first quarter of BYU’s 41-27 win over Iowa State, a 4-yard run to the boundary.
“We’re still evaluating it, so we will take some time to evaluate (it) and see where he’s going to be at,” Sitake said. “I can’t give you the answer. You guys know that (answer) wasn’t going to happen on the Monday after the game.”
But it had to be asked, as all of Cougar Nation holds its breath and prays that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior from El Paso, Texas, can play against the Red Raiders — who are at Kansas State Saturday. Martin is the ninth-leading rusher in the country, with 789 yards and five touchdowns on 132 carries.
When Martin left the game last Saturday, BYU went almost exclusively to the air to come from behind and beat the Cyclones. Preston Rex, a redshirt junior who played safety last season, had six carries for 17 yards and also caught one pass for 2 yards.
Receiver Parker Kingston got two carries, while RB3 Enoch Nawahine got three carries for 10 yards.
“We are considering everything,” Sitake said Monday when he was asked if any other players would be asked to switch positions, as Rex was before the season started.
“We want to be in the best position possible, whether that’s changing, not just the running back position, or (anything else),” Sitake continued. “This is the time to work on it and give them extra reps this week with the bye coming up.
“We have to consider all those things. And we feel good about our running back group. We just have to see how they’re going to take to the reps that they’re going to get and things like that. And we have to prep them even if LJ is ready to go.”
Sitake said the only BYU player who has sustained a season-ending injury to date is linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother, and he noted that the brother of former BYU basketball great Elijah Bryant plans to return to the team next year for his final season of eligibility.
Another positive sign in the “Martin Injury Watch” is that the running back attended comedian Adam Sandler’s show at Delta Center on Sunday night with teammates Treyson Bourguet and Tiger and Bear Bachmeier and was shown in a picture smiling happily and with his right hand on Sandler’s shoulder and no sling on either shoulder.
Other running backs in the room if BYU needs to dip further into its existing depth are redshirt freshman Jovesa Damuni, redshirt sophomore Lucky Finau, walk-on Charles Miska and freshman Logan Payne. Sophomore Sione Moa’s status remains unclear as he deals with compartment syndrome.
“We can do a lot of different things. All the running backs can run (well), too. It’s not just LJ, and LJ is awesome at it, don’t get me wrong, but we have guys who can run,” Sitake said. “You just don’t know their names yet, and hopefully we start to find out a little bit more about them as we go through the season.”
More takeaways from Sitake’s 20-minute chat via Zoom on Monday:
Kickoff time set for BYU-Texas Tech game on Nov. 8 in Lubbock
The Cougars have won 35 of their last 39 night games, but if they hope to stay undefeated they will have to win while the sun is out in Lubbock, Texas, again on the second Saturday of November. Kickoff time is set for 10 a.m. MDT, which is 11 a.m. in Texas.
BYU not only played well in the daylight hours in Ames last Saturday to get that monkey off its back, it also performed well (after a slow start) in its first game after that draining 24-21 win over rival Utah.
“It is now time to go back to work. We want to learn from the Iowa State game, but we have had plenty of time to receive praise and pat ourselves on the back,” Sitake said, noting that dozens of BYU fans greeted the team at the Provo airport when it arrived back from Iowa Saturday evening.
What’s the plan this week for Bye No. 2?
Sitake didn’t outline a specific plan this week in terms of when the Cougars will practice, but he did say the overriding goal is to improve the program in all three phases.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “I still feel like we can play better as a football team. …Really impressed with the effort our guys gave. We’ll build off of it and make sure that we’re ready for the next one, and getting an early start on Texas Tech and making a strong push for these last four games.”
The Cougars host TCU on Nov. 15, travel to No. 17 Cincinnati (5-0, 7-1) on Nov. 22, and finish up Big 12 play at home against UCF on Nov. 29.
‘The guy asks for more’
Sitake is continually asked about the workload being put on freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier, and he continues to assert that the 19-year-old is up to the task. Bachmeier ran 12 times for 49 yards and a touchdown, and on Monday was named one of the Manning Award Stars of the Week. He was also named to the Davey O’Brien Award Great 8 list, while safety Faletau Satuala earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
“I mean, the guy (Bachmeier) asks for more. He has an appetite for more, and we’re going to keep giving it to him. So it’s good that he’s named Bear, with a strong appetite, and he’s ready for it,” Sitake said. “I think the key would be, what does he feel like he’s really good at and that he feels comfortable with? We will take advantage of that during this week with the bye.”
