The BYU Cougars kick off the 2025 season in 4 days against Portland State. As we continue counting down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 4 - junior running back LJ Martin - by providing three interesting, fun facts:
Fun fact No. 1 - He was a Top 40 running back in the country coming out of high school
LJ played his his school ball in El Paso, Texas and was a true national recruit. He was a high three-star talent from 247 Sports with an 88 overall grade, and a four-star prospect from On 3. He was the No. 37 running back nationally in the class of 2023. Being from Texas he held offers from a host of local Power Four schools like Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, and SMU, plus other offers including Stanford.
Fun fact No. 2 - He originally committed to Texas Tech...then Stanford...then BYU
In April 2022, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound running back committed to Texas Tech. But just a week after committing to the Red Raiders, Martin received an offer from Stanford. This new development caused LJ to decommit from Texas Tech and commit to the Cardinal two months later. But shortly thereafter, Stanford head coach David Shaw announced he was stepping down, leading Martin to decommit from Stanford and ultimately find his way to Provo.
Beyond blessed 🤙🏽🤙🏽 https://t.co/FYcd0mAqzB
— LJ Martin (@aLJayMartin) February 1, 2023
Fun fact No. 3 - He could break Tyler Allgeier's single season rushing record at BYU
In 20 career games over two seasons with the Cougars, LJ has rushed 246 times for 1,236 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging a healthy 5.3 yards per carry as an underclassman.
The challenge is that he has also struggled to stay healthy, either playing dinged up or outright missing games.
But as BYU breaks in a new quarterback this year and the Cougars rely heavily on the run game, a healthy LJ Martin could not only have a great season, but a legendary one. He could realistically challenge Tyler Allgeier to break BYU's single season rushing record of 1,606 yards.
Back in 2021 Allgeier rushed 276 times for the school record 1,606 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry over 13 games. Given the fact that LJ Martin averaged 5.3 yards per carry as an underclassman and should be even better this year in terms of his experience, technique, and strength, he could average close to six yards per carry.
Assuming BYU makes a bowl game in 2025 and plays 13 games with LJ Martin averaging 6.0 yards per carry, Martin would need to average just over 20 carries per game to break BYU's all-time single season rushing record. With the Cougars likely pounding the run this year plus the excellent work of TJ Woods as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, LJ Martin could rush his way into the record books.
Here's to hoping for a healthy - and historic - season for BYU's talented junior running back.