BYU Football Running Back Analysis For 2025 Season
May 6, 2025, 3:20 PM | Updated: May 20, 2025, 3:05 pm
The BYU football running back position in 2025 is led by LJ Martin. (Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
(Nate Edwards/BYU Photo)
PROVO, Utah – It won’t be long before BYU football is back in action.
An area where BYU wants to take another step forward in the growth of the offense in the Big 12 era is at running back.
For the second consecutive season, BYU football didn’t use the Transfer Portal to add a ball carrier. From 2019 to 2023, BYU consistently landed NFL-caliber running backs in the portal.
Instead, they are focusing on developing the returning personnel into one of the best running back units in the Big 12.
It’s time to kick off our series of position analysis for the 2025 BYU football season.
2025 BYU Football Position Analysis Series
Cornerback | Quarterback | Safety |
Note: As of this publication, no official settlement has been reached in the House v. NCAA case, so we’re not currently capping personnel at the 105-man roster limit.
Personnel Snapshot
BYU returns four of its top five running backs from last season in LJ Martin, Sione Moa, Enoch Nawahine, and Pokaiaua Haunga.
The lone loss is Hinckley Ropati, who qualified for a medical redshirt year from the NCAA, but has reportedly entered the Transfer Portal. He was not with the team during spring practices.
BYU Football Running Backs returning for the 2025 season
- Enoch Nawahine (Redshirt-Senior): 98 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD in 2024
- LJ Martin (Junior): 718 rushing yards, 7 TDs; 98 receiving yards, 2 TDs
- Lucky Finau (RS-Sophomore)
- Sione Moa (Sophomore): 144 yards, 3 TDs
- Pokaiaua Haunga (RS-Freshman): 81 yards
- Jovesa Damuni (RS-Freshman)
- Charles Miska (RS-Freshman)
Gone from the 2024 roster
- Miles Davis (Utah State)
- Hinckley Ropati (Transfer Portal)
- Cale Breslin (2025 signee*, Portal after Spring Ball)
2025 Newcomers
- Logan Payne (Returned Missionary)
Breaking down the BYU football running backs for the 2025 season
BYU finished ninth in rushing yards last season in the 16-team Big 12, averaging 161 yards per game on the ground. That was a 57-yard jump from 2023, where they had the worst ground attack in the league.
The production is certainly trending up. Can BYU’s ground attack take another leap in 2025?
It’s time for LJ Martin to shine as a star
LJ Martin enters his third season with the BYU football program. He has finished as BYU’s leading rusher in the previous two years. Despite leading in rushing yards, there’s still more for Martin to accomplish at BYU.
The next task is to emerge as one of the top ball carriers in the Big 12.
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Through two seasons, Martin has rushed for 1,236 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’s 1,156 yards from cracking into the career Top 10 rushing leaders in BYU football history.
Last season, he finished with 718 yards in eight games for an average of 71 yards per game.
Martin’s Alamo Bowl performance felt like a breakout party for the nation that hasn’t been paying as close attention to BYU’s budding star. The Canutillo, Texas native earned Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP honors in BYU’s 36-14 victory over Colorado, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns while racking up 33 yards through the air.
Martin’s struggle has been staying healthy. Entering last season, he had a shoulder injury that limited him from team portions of fall camp. That injury, however, didn’t prevent him from missing any game action.
He did end up missing time after he suffered an ankle injury against SMU in week two. That kept him out until the Arizona game five weeks later.
Martin is a soft-spoken individual who lets his game speak for itself.
He’s a player who can shed contact. According to Pro Football Focus’ advanced stats, 468 of Martin’s 718 came after contact.
The standout player will have a new uniform this season, wearing No. 4 instead of No. 27.
Buy Sione Moa stock
Two offensive players consistently caught my attention during spring media observation periods in March. Those players were wide receiver Keelan Marion, who left BYU during the spring portal window and is off to Miami, and running back Sione Moa.
LJ Martin participated in spring practices, but they were careful with their top back. That created opportunities for sophomore Sione Moa to get snaps with the first-team offense, and he showed flashes of a player who’s ready to take another jump in his development.
. @byu_cosmo in the End Zone Amped ⚡️ 🔵
Sione I Moa for 6⃣#Big12FB | 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/9mWJAfE4oj
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) December 1, 2024
Last year, Moa was a standout in spring and fall camps, but his snaps primarily were with the third and fourth-team units. Nobody would have guessed that he would have been thrown into the fire and get the start against nationally-ranked Kansas State in the early portion of the season, but he did. He was excellent.
Moa rushed for 76 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown in BYU’s 38-9 blowout over the 13th-ranked Wildcats. He would have had two touchdowns had it not been for a holding penalty on BYU’s offense, negating the run.
But then he was gone for over a month due to an injury suffered in that game. He started to gain steam again at the end of the season with touchdown runs against Houston and Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.
While Martin is the clear-cut number one, Moa established himself coming out of spring as BYU’s next man in line.
“Sione, I mean, he looks like a fullback, body type, but that guy can dunk a basketball any way you want,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “He’s ambidextrous, throws with both hands, he’s a really good receiver, and he’s a good blocker. He’s a fantastic athlete as well.”
Moa was initially committed to Navy coming out of Timpview High School, but after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in San Bernardino, California, he joined the BYU program last season.
Confidence in the depth behind Martin
BYU experienced many injuries in the early part of the 2024 schedule. At the moment, this appeared worrisome for those on the outside, but it had long-term value, as many players earned valuable game experience.
Enoch Nawahine, a fourth-year player formerly of Utah State, had big runs in wins over SMU and Baylor last season. He’s back in the fold.
Pokaiaua Haunga was a standout in spring practices a year ago. He redshirted last season but had 12 carries in the first month of the season in two of his four-game appearances.
Coaches like Haunga’s versatility as a receiver and ball carrier out of the backfield, similar to former BYU star Reno Mahe.
“We really like our running backs,” Roderick said. “We have four guys who have played and produced in big games. I think we’re in good shape.”
Tidbits on the rest of the running back unit
Jovesa Damuni: Redshirted last season. A former wide receiver in high school, Damuni earned some snaps with the second-team offense during spring practices.
Lucky Finau: A former linebacker, Finau switched to running back at the end of the 2023 season. He’s the nephew of head coach Kalani Sitake.
Charles Miska: Joined the team last year during Wyoming week after serving a Spanish-speaking Latter-day Saint mission in the Oakland/San Francisco area. Walk-on out of Lorton, Virginia.
Logan Payne: A former star out of Weber High School, Payne was the top running back in Utah in 2021, rushing for 1,390 yards. After serving a Latter-day Saint Mission in Colombia, he joined the BYU program as a preferred walk-on this past winter. Payne had some nice runs with the fourth-team offense during spring practices.
Projected depth chart at RB for BYU football in 2025
Starter: LJ Martin
Top backup: Sione Moa
Key reserves: Pokaiaua Haunga, Enoch Nawahine
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
