LJ Martin Enters 2026 On Doorstep of BYU History

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When you think of all-time BYU running backs, the first names that come to mind are likely Jamaal Williams, Luke Staley, Harvey Unga, Tyler Allgeier, and Jamal Willis.

What if I told you that current BYU running back LJ Martin is a solid season away from being on top of the record books at BYU, over all of those names?

Martin started his career by flipping from Stanford to BYU (which seems to be a trend lately, hello Bear Bachmeier). It was a slow burn for Martin, at first. He struggled to stay healthy in 2023, missing a chunk of games midseason. He finished his freshman year with a solid 518 rushing yards and never eclipsing the 100-yard mark in a game.

2024 was much of the same, as he suffered some bumps and bruises, missing three games in the middle of the season again. However, he came back with more of a vengeance, running for 120 yards and two scores against Oklahoma State in his second game back. He backed that up with a consecutive 100-yard effort against UFC the next week in Orlando.

BYU’s main back finished his sophomore season with 718 yards and seven touchdowns. It still felt like there was plenty of untapped potential. He finished that 2024 season with an exclamation mark in the Alamo Bowl. In that game against Colorado, he rushed for 88 yards, caught two passes for 33 years, and scored twice.

He rode that momentum into a breakout 2025 campaign in Provo. In the season opener against Portland State, he ran for 131 yards. The kicker was he needed just eight carries to do it, for a robust ratio of 16.4 yards per carry. He opened the season with three straight 100-yard games. Things went nuclear against Arizona, where he rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 122 against Utah the next week. After a mid-season lull following the Holy War, he exploded for a whopping 222 yards and two touchdowns.

Overall, he led the Big 12 with 1,305 rushing yards and was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Certainly, he could have either declared for the NFL Draft or sought a bigger payday elsewhere in college football, perhaps in the SEC or Big 10. However, he stayed in Provo.

Thanks to that decision, he sets himself up to write his name in permanent ink in the BYU record books.

He currently sits at 2,541 rushing yards for his BYU career, good enough for ninth all-time in school history. If he rushes for 915 yards this season, he will become the second-highest all-time rusher at BYU, passing Harvey Unga. Going a step further, if he basically equals his 2025 output, and gets 1,361 rushing yards this season, he will pass Jamaal Williams as BYU’s all-time leading rusher.

That would be a testament to Martin’s loyalty to BYU in this wild era of NIL and transfer portal. It would also be a statement on how valuable he has been to BYU’s success early on in their Big 12 era. Either way, as long as Martin stays healthy this season, he will leave his name very high on that list as one of the best running backs to ever play for the Cougars.

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