Kalani Sitake gave BYU fans the answer they did not want Monday: LJ Martin and Isaiah Glasker are doubtful for Friday night’s game against Iowa State.
That is not the same as ruling either player out. Evaluations were still underway when Sitake spoke, and the Big 12 availability reports will narrow the picture later in the week. But “doubtful” is clear enough that BYU has to build the game plan around two possible absences now, not Friday afternoon.
The temptation is to put Martin and Glasker into one grim injury headline. The football problem is more specific. Martin’s absence would remove the offense’s best proven runner after a game in which BYU passed for 62 yards. Glasker’s absence would take an experienced, disruptive linebacker away from a defense preparing for an Iowa State team that just rushed for 265 yards in a 45-42 win.
BYU has replacements for both. It does not have replicas.
What “doubtful” means right now
Sitake told reporters that Martin and Glasker were still being evaluated, then said both looked doubtful for Iowa State. He did not announce a diagnosis or a return date for either player.
That boundary matters. Martin left the TCU game in the first quarter after two carries for 16 yards. Glasker left after Faletau Satuala’s 59-yard interception return and did not return. The public facts stop there, apart from their current doubtful designation.
Cannon DeVries received better news. Sitake called the defensive back and return specialist probable and said BYU anticipated seeing him Friday. The Daily Herald also reported that defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga expects Siale Esera back after two missed games, although the official week-of-game reporting still deserves the final word.
| Player | Monday status | Known 2026 production | Immediate replacement question |
|---|---|---|---|
| LJ Martin | Doubtful | 344 rushing yards, 3 TDs | Can BYU divide the carries without turning Bear Bachmeier into the primary back? |
| Isaiah Glasker | Doubtful | 16 tackles | Can the linebacker rotation preserve its fits against an Iowa State run game coming off 305 yards? |
| Cannon DeVries | Probable | 16.6 yards per punt return | Does BYU regain its starting nickel and most dangerous return option? |
The labels will change if the conference reports or BYU provide new information. Until then, a useful preview should treat Martin and Glasker as uncertain, not absent, and certainly not lost for any period beyond Friday.
Martin’s replacement is a workload plan
BYU already had to solve part of this problem in Fort Worth.
After Martin exited, Preston Rex carried eight times for 21 yards. Freshman Journee Tonga added 28 yards on seven attempts. Legend Glasker supplied 26 yards on four carries from his receiver role. Bachmeier carried 15 times for 66 yards and scored both BYU touchdowns.
The result was 154 team rushing yards and a 17-10 win. The closing possession was excellent: 10 consecutive runs, 72 yards and 5:55 off the clock. The entire offensive receipt was much less comfortable. BYU finished with 216 yards, averaged 3.5 yards per play and completed 11 passes for 62 yards.
That is why replacing Martin cannot mean asking Bachmeier to repeat 15 carries every week.
A quarterback run can improve the count because a defender has to respect two possible ball carriers. It can also become a tax. Bachmeier carried only 12 times across BYU’s first three games, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, then exceeded that total in one wet night at TCU. Some of those runs were the correct answer to the defense. Making them the base answer against Iowa State would expose the quarterback to more contact and let the rest of the backfield avoid the hard part of the job.
Sitake named Rex, Tonga and DeVaughn Eka while discussing the room. That gives BYU three different questions.
Rex is the senior and received the first substantial work after Martin left. His eight carries at TCU were more than half of his 13 career attempts entering this season in the site’s WMT-backed career file. Tonga produced the best traditional running-back gain on the closing drive, a 14-yard burst that moved BYU into TCU territory. Eka was part of BYU’s preseason running-back plan but has not yet been asked to carry a conference game.
The staff does not have to crown one replacement. It does have to assign jobs.
Rex can take the dependable early-down and protection work. Tonga can press the crease that showed up late at TCU. Eka can provide a third body so the same two backs do not absorb Martin’s full workload on a short week. Legend Glasker’s motion and carries can stretch the edge without pretending a freshman receiver is a 225-pound feature back.
That is a committee. Four players getting a handful of disconnected touches is just a list.
The passing game has to pay part of the bill
Martin led the Big 12 with 1,305 rushing yards in 2025. Through this season’s first four games, he has 344 yards and three touchdowns despite getting only two attempts at TCU. Defenses build their first answer around him.
Removing that answer should change the passing game before it changes Bachmeier’s carry count.
TCU crowded BYU into a tiny passing night. Bachmeier averaged 2.6 yards per attempt, and no completion gained more than 13. The rain mattered. So did five false starts and a protection plan already adjusting to Andrew Gentry’s absence. None of those facts makes 62 passing yards safe to repeat.
Iowa State just allowed West Virginia to score 42 points. The Mountaineers ran for 291 yards, and quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. accounted for 149 of them. That does not prove the Cyclones will surrender the same lanes in Provo. It does show BYU should not enter Friday believing every missing Martin carry must become another quarterback run.
The cleaner trade is a more credible first-down pass menu: quick throws that force Iowa State’s second level to widen, tight-end access behind aggressive linebackers and shots created by motion rather than by asking Bachmeier to hold the ball. BYU does not need to abandon its identity. It needs the pass to stop the defense from treating every back except Martin as evidence of the call.
Our TCU recap called the final run-only drive the rescue, not the plan. Martin’s Monday status makes that distinction more important. BYU can admire the 10-run finish without trying to play an entire Friday night inside it.
Glasker’s replacement is a communication plan
Glasker’s box-score line is not as easy to translate into missing carries.
He has 16 tackles this season, tied with Satuala behind team leader Cade Uluave in the official BYU totals. His larger value is the range of problems he can address. He entered 2026 with 140 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, five interceptions and two forced fumbles in the site’s WMT-backed career file.
That is not one job. It is run fits, pressure, coverage and the freedom to disguise which one is coming.
BYU showed real depth after Glasker left TCU. Jake Clifton recorded a fourth-quarter sack. Miles Hall remained available in the rotation. Uluave anchors the group, and Esera’s possible return would add a linebacker who made 16 tackles against Arizona in 2025. The defensive preseason file argued that linebacker was one of the roster’s deepest rooms. Friday could become the expensive proof.
Iowa State makes that proof unusually direct.
The Cyclones ran for 265 yards against West Virginia. Aiden Flora accounted for 212, including a 63-yard fourth-quarter touchdown and the winning 2-yard score. Iowa State also used him as a passer on two touchdown plays in the official scoring summary. The formation can put the ball, the run fit and the eye discipline under pressure at the same time.
West Virginia quarterback Hawkins ran for 149 yards on the other side. The game produced 556 combined rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. It was not normal, and BYU should not scout it as if Friday is guaranteed to become another 87-point exchange. But Iowa State’s 45 points and Flora’s 212 yards are current evidence of what one missed fit can become.
Without Glasker, BYU’s first task is not finding one linebacker who can recreate every snap. It is keeping the call connected. Uluave, Clifton, Hall and possibly Esera have to pass motion, exchange gaps and close the quarterback-run lane without leaving Satuala to clean up every mistake 12 yards downfield.
That is where DeVries’ probable designation matters. Getting the starting nickel back would restore one experienced communicator while the linebacker rotation changes. It does not replace Glasker. It reduces the number of simultaneous edits.
BYU can survive one missing star with depth. Two require balance
The TCU win offered evidence for both sides of this argument.
BYU survived Martin’s early exit because the backs, receivers and quarterback assembled 154 rushing yards. It survived Glasker’s exit because four different defenders recorded sacks and TCU finished with 259 total yards. Satuala’s interception supplied the short field for BYU’s first touchdown, and his four tackles plus one tackle for loss earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week.
That is what a 4-0 roster is supposed to do. Somebody else makes the play.
It is also dangerous to confuse one successful emergency response with a complete weekly plan. BYU scored 17 points. Satuala’s 59-yard return created 59 yards the offense did not have to produce. The Cougars protected the game with punting, a 49-yard field goal and zero turnovers. That exact script is hard to order twice.
Iowa State arrives at 3-2 after a game that showed the opposite profile. The Cyclones scored 45, gained explosive rushing yards and still needed a late touchdown because their defense allowed six West Virginia touchdowns. Friday pairs BYU’s suddenly uncertain star power with an opponent that can force both replacement plans onto the field at once.
If Iowa State scores quickly, BYU cannot spend three quarters discovering which back it trusts. If Flora reaches the second level, the linebackers cannot spend a series sorting out who owns the fit.
Depth is most useful when the jobs are decided before the stress arrives.
Friday’s test is narrower than the injury headline
The headline says BYU may lose its best runner and one of its best defenders for a top-10 Friday night game. That is true, and it is enough to make the short week uncomfortable.
The game-plan question is less dramatic.
On offense, can Rex, Tonga and Eka handle enough ordinary carries that Bachmeier’s legs remain a weapon instead of the whole rushing structure? Can the passing game punish Iowa State for crowding those backs?
On defense, can Uluave’s group keep the calls clean against Flora and a rushing attack that just produced 305 yards? Can DeVries and perhaps Esera return without BYU asking either to solve everything immediately?
Those are measurable questions. They are also better than guessing at medical details BYU has not released.
No. 8 BYU hosts Iowa State on Friday, Oct. 9 at 8:15 p.m. Mountain on ESPN. The permanent Iowa State game center carries the event details, and the football schedule will reflect any official update. A dedicated watch guide will handle the final access and availability picture inside the 48-hour window.
Martin and Glasker remain doubtful, not out. BYU should hope that distinction changes in its favor. It cannot plan as if it already has.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Iowa State game-week hub and official event 24744 for the Friday, Oct. 9 date, 8:15 p.m. Mountain kickoff, ESPN listing, LaVell Edwards Stadium venue and stable event record.
- Deseret News: Martin and Glasker doubtful for Iowa State for Sitake’s Monday designations, 2026 production and DeVries’ probable status.
- The Salt Lake Tribune: BYU injury report for the backfield candidates, Bachmeier’s carry comparison and independent confirmation of the Monday update.
- Daily Herald: BYU’s short-week depth response for Sitake’s comments on Rex, Tonga and Eka plus the reported Esera expectation.
- BYU Athletics: Satuala named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for Satuala’s TCU line, 2026 totals and conference honor.
- Iowa State Athletics: official West Virginia box score for the 45-42 final, Flora’s 212 rushing yards, Iowa State’s 265 rushing yards and the scoring sequence.
- WMT Statistics: BYU-TCU game and player statistics for BYU’s team totals and individual rushing and defensive lines.
