Provo • On a fateful night four years ago in Palo Alto, Calif., LJ Martin watched the solemn end to David Shaw’s reign.
For so long, Shaw’s Stanford program won Rose Bowls and produced greats like Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Love. But on that final day, BYU came into California and methodically ran for 358 yards on 50 carries. The Cougars had three players go for over 65 yards and punched in three touchdowns. Shaw resigned right after the game.
As for Martin, he always wanted to spearhead a dynamic rushing attack. But for the first time, he thought it might be BYU who offered that chance, not the Cardinal.
“I really wanted to go to Stanford. My mom really wanted me to go there as well,” Martin said. “But I had to consider other options. I had to convince my mom a little bit why I shouldn’t get a Stanford education.”
Martin smiled and added, “But it has worked out pretty good so far.”
Indeed, it has.
Years removed from that decision, Martin is now undoubtedly BYU’s most indispensable weapon. Playing against his old team, in front of Luck, Martin ran for 110 yards on 18 carries to propel the Cougars to a comfortable 27-3 win.
He has opened the season with back-to-back 100-yard outings, tallying 260 yards total in two weeks. He’s already accounted for 30 percent of his entire production from a year ago.
But it’s Martin’s value that has changed more than his stats.
Ever since former quarterback Jake Retzlaff exited in June, BYU’s entire quest to contend for a Big 12 title fell on Martin’s shoulders. He dropped 15 pounds in the offseason to prepare for the increased load.
On the opening day of fall camp, still without a quarterback, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was asked how many touches Martin would get.
“A lot,” Roderick deadpanned. “We want him to touch the ball a lot this year. He’s in great shape. He is one of the best players on the team.”
Roderick has kept his word. Martin was good for 36 percent of BYU’s total offense against Stanford.
On an otherwise lackluster night, Martin was the best weapon for the Cougars. On the opening scoring drive, Martin burst through the line of scrimmage to pick up 47 yards and get into Stanford territory. He waited patiently for a hole to open and scampered for 11 more yards to set up quarterback Bear Bachmeier for a rushing touchdown.
A little later in the second half, with BYU coming off three straight punts, Martin jolted the offense again with a nine-yard first down. It led to a field goal to give the Cougars more breathing room as they otherwise struggled to score.
“He’s got great vision,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I think it’s he gets stronger as the game goes on. We just got to keep feeding him the ball.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars running back LJ Martin (4) slips out of a tackle for a huge gain as in football action between the Brigham Young Cougars and the Stanford Cardinal, at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday Sept. 6, 2025.
And when BYU didn’t feed Martin the ball, the offense often ground to a halt. The defense gifted the Cougars the ball inside the 10-yard line after a turnover, but backpeddled 7 yards and settled for a field goal as Martin never got a touch.
It happened again when BYU started with the ball at the 18-yard line after an interception. Martin got the ball just once on a second down and 15 and the drive stalled out accordingly.
“We are gonna be able to run the ball,” Roderick said after BYU’s first scrimmage.
For now, that is what BYU can rely on.
Bachmeier had a haphazard night. He struggled with pressure and too many of his passes sailed when receivers were open. He finished 17-for-27 for 175 yards.
For the second straight week, Roderick was more than happy to just hand the ball off whenever he could.
Against Portland State, BYU ran 48 times and threw it just 18 times. This time the Cougars ran it 41 times to 27 passes.
It leads back to Martin, who averaged 6.1 yards per carry and moved the chains more times than anyone else.
As Martin left the field, he looked over at some of the Stanford running backs he would have shared the field with. The Cardinal rushed for 19 yards and didn’t score a single touchdown.
Martin seems to have made the right choice of where he could lead the best rushing attack.
Now, though, it’s not just a rushing attack on his shoulders. It’s BYU’s season.