BYU RB LJ Martin Expected To Be Unavailable Against No. 7 Texas
Oct 28, 2023, 1:35 PM
BYU football running back LJ Martin is expected to be out against the Texas Longhorns due to an injury. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
AUSTIN, Texas – BYU football starting running back LJ Martin is expected to be out against No. 7 Texas.
The freshman ball carrier was banged up against Texas Tech. That’s why UNLV transfer Aidan Robbins closed out the game.
#BYU RB LJ Martin continues to go through warmups. He's taken a few carries during positional work here at DKR.
Head coach Kalani Sitake told Greg Wrubell in BYU Sports Network pregame that "it looks like he is going to be unavailable" today against Texas.#BYUFootball
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 28, 2023
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake told Greg Wrubell in the BYU Sports Network pregame show heard on KSL NewsRadio that Martin practiced throughout the week, but it was unlikely that he would play against the Longhorns.
Martin, a native of El Paso, Texas, is suited up and going through warmups on the hot and muggy Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium playing surface.
Sitake noted that the injury is similar to BYU wide receiver Kody Epps and that the staff is being cautious with him.
Last week in the postgame press conference after the win over Texas Tech, Sitake was asked if Martin was banged up about why he didn’t close out the game. Sitake said last week that Martin was “fine.”
LJ Martin is the leading rusher for BYU this season. In seven game appearances and five starts, Martin has rushed for 438 yards on 96 carries. He also has four touchdowns on the year.
If Martin is sidelined for the game, BYU will turn to Aidan Robbins. Robbins told KSL Sports earlier this week that is back to 100% from injury.
Robbins started the first two games of the season before being sidelined in week three against Arkansas. He returned to action in last week’s win over Texas Tech.
After Robbins, BYU has Miles Davis, Deion Smith, and Enoch Nawahine to round out the running back depth chart.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X and Threads: @Mitch_Harper.
