BYU has rushed for 788 yards through three games. That is a terrific start. It is also not quite school-record pace.
The 2013 Cougars own BYU’s season record with 3,475 rushing yards in 13 games. That works out to 267.3 yards per game. The 2026 offense is averaging 262.7, about 4.6 yards behind that rate each Saturday.
This sounds like stat-accountant nitpicking until the number of games enters the argument. BYU can pass 3,475 with a lower weekly average if it reaches a Big 12 championship game, bowl or College Football Playoff game. That would be a larger season total, but it would not mean this offense ran the ball more efficiently than the 2013 group.
The useful news is elsewhere. BYU has already shown three different versions of a productive rushing offense, and only one required LJ Martin to carry most of it.
Total yards and weekly pace answer different questions
BYU’s official record book lists the 2013 team at 3,475 rushing yards in 13 games. The current Cougars have 788 through three.
Here is the clean comparison:
| Team | Games | Rushing yards | Yards per game |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 BYU | 13 | 3,475 | 267.3 |
| 2026 BYU | 3 | 788 | 262.7 |
| Difference | — | — | 4.6 behind |
BYU has nine regular-season games left. To break the record during the 12-game regular season, it would need 2,688 more yards, or 298.7 per game. That is a much harder assignment than the raw 788 suggests.
A postseason berth changes the arithmetic. If BYU plays 14 total games, it needs 2,688 yards across 11 more dates, an average of 244.4. The extra games lower the weekly standard even though the record-book total stays the same.
There is nothing wrong with collecting more football. A Big 12 title-game appearance would be better than protecting an old per-game comparison. Fans should simply keep the claims separate: BYU is close to the 2013 weekly pace, and a long postseason could put the season total within reach.
That is plenty impressive without rounding up.
The three-game path matters more than the average
The 788 yards did not arrive in equal installments.
| Opponent | BYU rushing yards | Share of season total | What the game tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Tech | 308 | 39.1% | Full-roster depth in a 63-7 opener |
| Arizona | 148 | 18.8% | Patience in a one-score Big 12 game |
| Colorado State | 332 | 42.1% | Explosiveness and depth on the road |
The opener supplied 39.1% of the total against an FCS opponent. BYU ran for 308 yards, used 11 ball carriers and produced rushing touchdowns from five different players. That established depth, but the score and opponent made it a poor game for projecting a season average.
Arizona supplied the floor. The Cougars managed 148 yards, and Martin accounted for 98 of them on 20 carries. BYU trailed at halftime, did not have the easy lanes it found in the opener and still ran enough to support a 28-17 comeback. The total was ordinary. The ability to stay with the run when the afternoon became uncomfortable was more useful.
Colorado State supplied the ceiling. BYU ran for 332 yards in its first road game. Martin had 176, which means the rest of the offense produced 156. Journee Tonga added 91, while Preston Rex scored and Legend Glasker used jet action to reach the end zone.
The Colorado State recap already covers the 56-yard Martin touchdown and the late depth work. In a season-wide view, the important number is 156. BYU nearly matched its lead back’s huge night without asking him to create every yard.
Martin is the center, not the whole rushing total
Martin has 328 rushing yards this season: 54 against Utah Tech, 98 against Arizona and 176 at Colorado State. That is 41.6% of BYU’s team total.
His share changes with the game. The opener let the Cougars empty the bench after seven Martin carries. Arizona required 20 carries and put two-thirds of BYU’s rushing yards on his line. Colorado State gave him three first-quarter touchdowns, then let Tonga, Rex, Glasker and Devaughn Eka continue moving the ball.
That distribution is a better reason for optimism than a projected record.
Martin entered the season after 236 carries in 2025, the sixth-highest single-season total in BYU’s official record book. He is also 131 yards from becoming the fourth Cougar to reach 3,000 career rushing yards, according to the current Deseret News calculation. He can carry a hard game. BYU does not need to prove that every week.
The healthier goal is to make Martin’s heavy usage optional. Arizona can be the model when a conference defense forces it. Utah Tech and Colorado State show how the offense can preserve him when the line and the rest of the backfield take control.
The backs are not interchangeable. Tonga’s 129 yards this season do not reproduce Martin’s contact balance, and jet sweeps for Legend Glasker stress a defense differently from an inside run. That variety is the point. A defense preparing for one runner now has to account for several ways BYU can change the fit.
TCU is the first clean test of the big number
The Oct. 3 trip to TCU should tell us more about 788 than another projection can.
Through its first three games, TCU had allowed 238 rushing yards, or 79.3 per game. That early number came before Saturday’s conference opener at UCF, and it included Grambling State and Arkansas State, so it needs the same opponent warning as BYU’s total. Still, 238 yards allowed across three games is a real defensive baseline.
TCU’s game against UCF will change the file before BYU arrives. UCF entered Saturday averaging 228 rushing yards per game. Whether the Horned Frogs held that line or gave up movement will provide a more relevant conference sample than their two home wins over non-Power opponents.
BYU does not need 267 yards in Fort Worth to validate its rushing offense. A road conference game can be productive at a much lower total if the run creates manageable third downs, finishes short-yardage possessions and prevents TCU from turning every obvious passing down into a pressure call.
The sharper checks are these:
- Can BYU create useful first-down runs when TCU knows Martin is the center of the plan?
- Can Tonga, Rex or Eka keep a series alive without waiting for a 31-point lead?
- Does Bachmeier’s run threat force TCU to hold a defender near the mesh point?
- Can jet action still widen the edge when Glasker’s two early awards have put it on every scouting cutup?
The permanent TCU game center lists Saturday, Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. Mountain on ESPN or ESPN2 at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The football schedule carries the rest of the season, and a dedicated watch guide will handle final access details inside the 48-hour window.
The honest benchmark is 200, not 3,475
A school record is fun in September because it turns three games into a finish line. It is not the best weekly standard.
Two hundred rushing yards is cleaner. BYU would reach 3,000 with a little under 246 per game over the remaining regular season, but the offense does not need 3,000 to function. It needs enough steady ground production to keep Bachmeier out of obvious passing situations and enough depth to avoid turning Martin’s senior season into a weekly collision count.
The first three games support that goal in different ways. Utah Tech showed bodies. Arizona showed patience. Colorado State showed explosiveness and a second wave.
BYU is 14 yards short of matching the 2013 team’s pace through the same three-game denominator. That is the correction. The football conclusion is better: the Cougars have already survived their low rushing day, exceeded 300 twice and found 460 team rushing yards from players other than Martin.
The record chase can wait. If that last number keeps growing against TCU, Iowa State and Notre Dame, the offense will have something more useful than a September projection.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: 2026 football game centers and official box scores for the 308, 148 and 332 team rushing totals, Martin’s game lines and each final score.
- BYU Athletics: team records for the 2013 school record of 3,475 rushing yards in 13 games.
- BYU Athletics: individual records for Martin’s 2025 workload and BYU’s career and season rushing lists.
- BYU Athletics: Utah Tech recap for the 11 ball carriers, five rushing scorers and opening-game player lines.
- BYU Athletics: Colorado State recap for the rushing sequence, Martin’s three touchdowns and the second-half work from Tonga, Rex and Eka.
- Deseret News, Sept. 26: BYU’s run game is rolling at a historic pace for the reported 6.7-yard team average, Martin’s career-record distances and independent rushing-depth context.
- TCU Athletics: UCF game preview and Associated Press matchup capsule via WTOP for TCU’s first-three-game defensive profile and UCF’s entering rushing average.
