BYU brought home their road win against Colorado State Saturday night, led by star running back LJ Martin.
Martin led the Big 12 in rushing yards last season and was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. But he was off to a slow start this season, not by any fault of his own, recording zero touchdowns in the first two games.
But Martin went to work quickly for the Cougars in Fort Collins, Colorado. BYU’s first offensive drive of the game consisted of two plays: a 9-yard run up the middle and a 56-yard touchdown rush, both from Martin.
And he didn’t stop there. In just three quarters of play, the senior running back recorded 15 carries for 176 yards and three touchdowns, giving head coach Kalani Sitake a lot to talk about in his post-game interview.
“LJ is one of the best running backs in the country,” Sitake said. “I mean he could be playing in the NFL, and he decided to come back for a season.”
Martin is a man of few words, so it’s no surprise that, when asked about his explosive night, he responded like this:
“Yeah, um, it was a lot of fun, you know, just going out there and running the ball,” Martin said. “So, um, yeah, it was just a lot of fun.”
There were so many highlights throughout the game, but one sticks out over the rest: a one-handed 70-yard reception from true-freshman Legend Glasker.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen it yet,” Glasker said. “I didn’t even know I caught it one hand. He was trying to grab my arm, so I was trying to get separation, and it literally just fell right in my arm. So yeah, it was a good ball.”
And that pass came from none other than Bear Bachmeier, who’s shown a lot of growth throwing the ball downfield, especially to Glasker, his new top target.
In three quarters of play, Bachmeier was 12/16 in passing and threw for 227 yards. He did record one interception later in the game.
BYU put up 41 points versus Colorado State’s 23. They advance to 3-and-0 on the season. Saturday’s win moved them up two spots in the AP Top 25 poll. The Cougars now rank 9th in the nation.
There is no Cougar football this weekend, as the squad heads into a bye week, but BYU will be back in action again on Oct. 3, making their way to Texas to take on the TCU Horned Frogs.