BYU RB LJ Martin Says He’s Healthy, Ready To Push For 1000 Yards
Jul 8, 2025, 4:28 PM | Updated: Jul 9, 2025, 10:08 am
FRISCO, Texas – BYU football running back LJ Martin dealt with his fair share of injuries last season but is now back to 100 percent and ready to reach new heights in 2025.
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This time last year, Martin was dealing with an injury and was unable to have a full offseason of development after his first college season.
Now, with 10 more games under his belt and a full offseason, Martin is ready to get back out there, and he feels there is a group of backs to support him.
“My health is good,” Martin said. “I had a full offseason to get faster, stronger, and just work on my game. Our running back room is pretty good. I feel like we’ve got playmakers as deep as they go. We can go from the last guy on the depth chart to the top; it doesn’t matter who is in.”
From his first to his second year, Martin rushed for 200 more yards and went from four to seven touchdowns.
He said that he hopes to keep improving and potentially get into four digits for yards on the ground. However, he made sure to say that all that matters is the final score.
“Of course I want to get to 1000, I want to get as many yards as possible,” Martin said. “But, just the way football works sometimes, you don’t get the carries or other stuff happens that’s out of your control. I’m just happy with whatever we do to win. That’s my goal, just win every game.”
With the questions at quarterback at BYU, a 1000-yard season isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility for Martin.
The last Cougar back to achieve that feat was Tyler Allgeier in 2021.
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Last season, BYU finished with an 11-2 record and a 7-2 conference record. Utah was the preseason favorite to win the Big 12 during its first year, but ended up finishing 5-7 overall and 2-7 in league games.
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Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
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Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.
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