LJ Martin's injury poses stiff challenge to No. 8 BYU's offense as Cougars host Iowa State

PROVO, Utah (AP) — An injury to LJ Martin changes everything for No. 8 BYU on offense ahead of Friday’s clash with Iowa State.

Martin is expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks after suffering a lower-body injury against TCU. The senior running back had two carries for 16 yards in the Cougars’ 17-10 win over the Horned Frogs before exiting the game and not returning.

Martin’s absence is a significant blow to BYU’s offense. He was the Big 12’s leading rusher last season, tallying 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Cougars mustered just 216 total yards against the Horned Frogs in his absence.

With Martin unavailable, the Cougars will rely on multiple backs to shoulder the load in the backfield. Preston Rex and Journee Tonga should both see increased carries after filling in for Martin against TCU.

“We talk about our depth and we’re just gonna have to trust it and let these guys be able to do some of the stuff that LJ was able to do,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “This is their time.”

Quarterback Bear Bachmeier will also take a more active role in the running game in Martin’s absence. Bachmeier ran for 66 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries against TCU after totaling only 12 carries over BYU’s first three games.

Iowa State anticipates Bachmeier giving the Cyclones plenty of reasons to worry about stopping BYU’s offense. He threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns to rally the Cougars to a 41-27 victory over Iowa State last season.

“He’s gonna run through you. I love the way Bear plays,” Iowa State coach Jimmy Rogers said. “He’s a physical kid, he can throw the deep ball with the best of them. Obviously, they’ve put a lot on his plate and you can see that schematically, but he also has the ability to take over games and move the sticks with his legs.”

Aiden Flora is doing a little bit of everything for Iowa State this season.

Flora earned AP National Player of the Week honors after rushing for 212 yards and accounting for five touchdowns in the Cyclones’ 45-42 victory over West Virginia. The former walk-on running back threw a pair of second quarter TD passes, a 46-yarder to Cody Jackson and a 2-yarder to Vince Benetti.

“It was a little trip down memory lane,” said Bennetti, who was previously teammates with Flora at ADM High School in Adel, Iowa. “It felt pretty cool. Just like old times.”

Flora is only the third player in Big 12 history with a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown and punt return for a touchdown in the same season. He is second among FBS players with 785 all-purpose yards.

Bachmeier experienced uncharacteristic struggles throwing the ball against TCU, tallying only 62 yards on 11-of-24 passing.

The sophomore finished with a career low in passing yards after posting back-to-back 200-yard games against Arizona and Colorado State. For Bachmeier, it was only the second game in his career where he completed fewer than 59% of his pass attempts.

“Every game isn’t like Mary Poppins — perfect in every way,” Bachmeier said. “It was one of those games. Luckily, we got out of there with a win.”

Iowa State has rushed for at least 100 yards in 22 consecutive games, the longest active streak among Power 4 teams and the sixth longest such streak in the FBS. The Cyclones have accumulated 987 rushing yards through five games — the most by any Iowa State team in a five-game stretch since 2009.

BYU and Iowa State meet for the seventh time on Friday. This will be the fourth game in Provo. The Cougars are 0-3 at home against the Cyclones, most recently falling 45-13 in 2023.

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