The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2026 season in 28 days against Utah Tech. As we count down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 28 - redshirt sophomore running back Jovesa Damuni.
Jovesa Damuni's background
Jovesa has a lot of ties to BYU. He is the cousin of standout safety Raider Damuni and the nephew of BYU football's director of football relations, Jack Damuni, who also played in Provo back in the day.
Damuni played his high school ball at Ridgeline High School in Providence, Utah so while he wasn't necessarily playing in BYU's backyard, he was a very much known in-state quantity. He was a standout two-way player in high school at both wide receiver and defensive back. Jovesa was a low-end three star recruit with an 81 rating from 247 Sports, making him the No. 29 prospect in the Beehive State in the class of 2021.
The only two scholarships recorded for him came from BYU and Utah State. The Utah State offer was probably appealing since his father played in Logan a while back and has worked on staff with student athletes. But in the end Jovesa chose BYU.
He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Santiago, Chile before beginning his college football career.
Damuni's past and present with BYU
Like many returned missionaries hovering near the bottom of the depth chart, Damuni redshirted during his 2024 season and didn't appear in any games.
Then last year as a redshirt freshman he had a more eventful season than anybody could have anticipated. After playing wide receiver in high school he made the change to running back with the Cougars and was quickly thrust into action last season.
In BYU's first game, a blowout win against Portland State, he had seven carries for 44 yards. He also put his receiving prowess on display with two receptions for 14 yards.
He got another carry for six yards the following week against Stanford.
He then didn't have another touch until BYU's fifth game, a conference win against West Virginia. Jovesa had three carries for 11 yards and then caught a screen pass for 11 yards, but he lost a fumble on that play that set West Virginia up at the BYU 22 and led to a Mountaineers touchdown.
Damuni not only lost a fumble on that play, he seemed to lose the trust of BYU's offensive coaching staff, too.
After fumbling against West Virginia, he didn't touch the ball again until a blowout against UCF in BYU's 12th game of the season.
But then his redemption arc came about in the Pop Tarts Bowl against Georgia Tech. With both LJ Martin and Sione Moa out due to injury, Jovesa was part of a MASH unit backfield and got seven carries for 48 yards and a touchdown. He also reeled in three receptions for 19 more yards. After a very discouraging multi-week stretch after the West Virginia fumble, he ended the season on a very high note.
And this year, BYU needs Jovesa Damuni to be at his best. LJ Martin is dominant but tends to get banged up, as most bell cow running backs do. Sione Moa is electric, but also injury prone. Freshman Devaughn Eka was great at Lehi High School, but is he ready for the Big 12?
When overlooking the fumble, what Jovesa Damuni showed last year was the ability to run for good yardage and catch the ball out of the backfield. He averaged 5.8 yards on 19 carries as a redshirt freshman playing a new position. He also has soft hands and had six receptions last year, giving BYU a receiving threat out of the backfield.
Jovesa Damuni was pressed into service last year, and he may not have been fully ready.
Now with a season of experience under his belt, he could once again be pressed into service this year. And if he's ready to answer the bell, he could be the depth piece BYU needs in the backfield.
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