BYU’s chances of beating Utah in the Holy War on Saturday could hinge on LJ Martin.
After an extended injury absence, the star Cougars running back has a chance to play this weekend. But that also means there’s a chance that he doesn’t play.
And the final outcome of that injury determination will be crucial to what happens in a top-10 battle between these in-state rivals.
Martin has had his status updated multiple times this week. This is what we know before BYU’s practice on Tuesday.
LJ Martin Injury Update
BYU coach Kalani Sitake shared some telling thoughts on Tuesday before BYU hit the practice field.
“He’s looking good, but the question for us is what’s the right thing to do? We’ll know more by the end of practice today,” Sitake said.
Sitake continued with this: “If you ask him, he wants to go. He’s hungry for it… We need him to be a leader, have his role with the team, don’t know if that means he needs to be on the field right now.”
Kalani on LJ Martin:
“He’s looking good, but the question for us is what’s the right thing to do? We’ll know more by the end of practice today.. 👀
If you ask him, he wants to go. He’s hungry for it.. we need him to be a leader, have his role with the team, don’t know if that means he needs to be on the field right now”
— Terrell Williams (@XRPBYU) November 3, 2026
That came after offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick’s comments on Monday went like this:
BYU OC Aaron Roderick on RB LJ Martin’s status.
“I don’t know a lot yet. He’s not all the way back yet.
He’s running and we’re trying to bring him along. I’ll know more once I see him do more stuff this week.
Last week he didn’t really do anything. We’ll find out some more this week.”
From BYUtv’s Coordinators’ Corner
— Jarom Jordan (@jaromjordan) November 2, 2026
Neither of those quotes make it sound like Martin is trending toward playing, but it’s a long week.
LJ Martin Stats
Martin has spent his entire college career at BYU, and he has improved in each of his collegiate seasons.
He ran for 518 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman.
As a sophomore, Martin ran for 718 yards and seven TDs.
Last season, Martin took over the backfield entirely and had 236 carries for 1,305 yards (5.5 ypc) and 12 touchdowns along with 36 catches for 255 yards.
So far this season, Martin had run 44 times for 344 yards (7.8 ypc) and three scores while adding five grabs for 41 yards.
Martin has missed four games in a row. BYU would love if he could avoid making it a fifth.
BYU’s LJ Martin Injury Update Doesn’t Sound Like Good News