Aaron Roderick is Confident in BYU's Rushing Attack

Originally posted on BYU Cougars on SI
By Casey Lundquist | Last updated Aug 10, 2025 11:27 AM ET

On Saturday, BYU football wrapped up the first scrimmage of Fall Camp. The scrimmage consisted of over 100 plays and saw the defense get the better of the offense. After the scrimmage, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick discussed a few of the lessons his offense learned, especially his young players.

"We had some procedural things today that kept popping up, and again I can't emphasize enough: when you get a full Big 12 officiating crew out there, how perfect your execution has to be, and I think today was a great lesson, especially our younger players, at how well you have to execute in Big 12 football games to have a chance to win."

Then, Roderick pivoted and highlighted the run game. "But our run game is gonna be good," Roderick said. "I'm telling you, we're gonna be able to run the football. I like our offensive line a lot. Our tight ends are tough and physical, and LJ Martin and [Sione] Moa are really good players...we have some other backs too that that I think we'll be able to count on. And then our quarterbacks are good runners, you guys know we will sprinkle in enough quarterback run game to keep people honest, and I think we're going to have a very solid run game this year."

Play of the day was a long run from LJ Martin. The play was whistled dead but Martin had a chance to go the distance. pic.twitter.com/gmxh42G9RQ
— Casey Lundquist (@casey_lundquist) August 5, 2025

The rushing attack will be the key to BYU's offensive success, at least early in the season while BYU's new quarterback gets up to speed. Since Aaron Roderick arrived at BYU, BYU's best offenses have been able to consistently run the football. When BYU is effective in the run game, Roderick's offense becomes really challenging to defend. When Roderick's offense is at its best, the run game sets up play-action shots downfield. The 2020 and 2021 offenses were perfect examples of what Aaron Roderick wants to do at BYU.

Keeping BYU's running backs healthy will be really important. LJ Martin will be the feature running back as long as he is healthy. Martin has been really effective in Fall Camp and he has looked faster after trimming down a little weight. Behind Martin, sophomore Sione Moa will get a lot of run as well. Moa was impactful in limited reps as a true freshman in 2024.

After Martin and Moa, BYU is inexperienced. The Cougars are hoping to get veteran running back Hinckley Ropati back on the roster. Ropati is waiting to hear back from the NCAA on an appeal for an extra year of eligibility.