No. 8 BYU suffers injury blow ahead of massive stretch

BYU Cougars running back LJ Martin. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No. 8 BYU suffers injury blow ahead of massive stretch

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Oct 7, 2026 9:31 PM ET

The BYU Cougars are ranked No. 8 in the nation, and they're a very good 4-0 after wins over Utah Tech, Arizona, Colorado State and TCU.

The Cougars have a big stretch of games coming up, and they'd undoubtedly like to keep pace with the 5-0 Texas Tech Red Raiders, who are ranked No. 11 in the nation but are on top of the Big 12.

BYU's pursuit of early-season perfection has hit a massive snag, though, as it's being reported that star running back LJ Martin is going to miss several games with a lower-body injury.

Martin, the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, was hurt early in BYU's 17-10 win over TCU.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, he's expected to miss four to six weeks.

Sources: No. 8 BYU’s star tailback, LJ Martin, will be out for at least a month with a lower body injury he suffered against TCU. He was the Big 12 offensive player of the year in 2025. He’ll miss four to six weeks, including the home against No. 3 Notre Dame on Oct. 17. pic.twitter.com/hsDEEUz9Ri
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) October 7, 2026

To say that this is tough news for BYU would be underselling it.

In four games this season (though he rushed just twice against TCU due to the injury), Martin has put up 344 yards and three touchdowns.

Last season for the Cougars, he rushed 236 times for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Losing LJ Martin a huge blow for the BYU Cougars

Even if Martin missed just four games, he'd miss a stretch that sees the Cougars play Iowa State (3-2), No. 3 Notre Dame (5-0), UCF (3-2) and Arizona State (2-2). Those four teams are a combined 13-6.

If Martin has to miss six weeks, that would put games against No. 12 Utah and Baylor at stake as well.

It's brutal no matter how you slice it, but the timing of this injury makes it even worse for BYU.

It's expected that freshman Journee Tonga will pick up some of the slack for the Cougars in the meantime. A former three-star recruit, he's rushed 19 times for 157 yards and one touchdown so far this season.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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