The key stat that has LJ Martin settling in among BYU’s ‘Super 6’

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With 31 yards on Saturday at TCU, senior running back LJ Martin will take residency among BYU’s top five rushers in program history. He can reach No. 4 with 102 yards and his quest to be the best will demand 1,013 yards before the end of the season.

Already a member of the “Super Six,” Martin shares a glaring skill with the incumbents ahead of him — Jamaal Williams, Harvey Unga, Curtis Brown, Jamal Willis and Tyler Allgeier. Each one ran like crazy and protected the football while they did it.

Combined, the group has 3,623 rush attempts and only 31 fumbles, with less than 20 of those recovered by their opponents. That averages into roughly 117 carries or about five games of constant punishment without coughing up the football — and that’s what makes this group truly great.

1. Jamaal Williams (2012-2016): BYU’s all-time leader rushed 726 times for 3,901 yards and 35 touchdowns with only two fumbles while playing alongside Taysom Hill. Williams carried that skill into the NFL where in 1,069 carries over eight seasons, he ran for 4,117 yards and 40 touchdowns with just five fumbles. Williams biggest day at BYU was against Toledo in 2016 when he ran for 286 yards and five touchdowns.
2. Harvey Unga (2006-2009): In three seasons at BYU, as Max Hall’s featured runner, Unga rushed 696 times for 3,455 yards and 36 touchdowns with only eight fumbles. Today, as the Cougars running backs coach, it is his job to make sure Martin and the others in the stable hang on to the ball. Unga’s top game was against UNLV in 2009 when he rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns.
3. Curtis Brown (2002-2006): Running for head coaches Gary Crowton and Bronco Mendenhall and quarterback John Beck, Brown rushed 671 times for 3,221 yards and 27 touchdowns with six fumbles. His marquee moment came against Oregon in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl when he ran for 120 yards and two touchdowns during BYU’s 38-8 romp.
4. Jamal Willis (1991-1994): Playing alongside Ty Detmer and John Walsh, Willis amassed 2,970 yards on 584 carries with 32 touchdowns and 14 fumbles. His big moment came at Notre Dame in 1994 when he rushed for 75 yards and a touchdown and also caught a touchdown pass in BYU’s 21-14 win in South Bend.
5. Tyler Allgeier (2018-2021): The converted linebacker took 452 handoffs from Zach Wilson and Jaren Hall and rushed for 2,899 yards and 36 touchdowns with six fumbles (lost three). In a twist of running back irony, while setting BYU’s single-season rushing record in 2021, Allgeier’s biggest play was when he forced a fumble during the famous “punch out” play against Arizona State in 2021.
6. LJ Martin (2023-present): As BYU’s featured running back for the last three seasons, Martin is up to 2,869 yards on 524 carries with only three fumbles, including none in 2025 when he was honored as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Martin has played 17 games without a turnover since the first quarter against Houston on Nov. 30, 2024.

To his credit, Martin has picked up his yards against more Power Four defenses than all five of the runners ahead of him — combined! He is a workhorse and, just as his predecessors were to their quarterbacks, Martin is Bear Bachmeier’s best friend on the field.

Run like crazy while protecting the football. That’s what placed those five elite runners ahead of him. At one point, each one held BYU’s all-time or single-season rushing record. Here comes Martin. He plays just like them, and one by one, starting Saturday (5 p.m. MDT, ESPN), the senior from El Paso, Texas, can start moving ahead of them.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.

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