The Cougars will take the field without the services of Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year LJ Martin, as reported by BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake during bowl preparation practices. Martin was not listed on BYU’s released depth chart, although he did make the trip to Orlando with his teammates.

The void left by Martin is massive, and for several reasons.

Take the fact that Martin 1,305 yards this season with BYU’s next closest ground gainer being quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who ran for 527 yards on the regular season. After Bachmeier? Well, that would be receiver Parker Kingston, who 108 yards on 22 carries, and then Cody Hagen, who also happens to play receiver, who matched Kingston’s 108 yards rushing on just nine carries.

It gets worse.

The running back who gained the most yardage this season, other than Martin, is Sione Moa, who has battled through injury while only playing four games this season. Moa wasn’t listed on the depth chart with coaches confirming he won’t suit up come Saturday to improve on his 92 yards gained on the season.

“Any time you are missing the Big 12 Player of the Year, that is going to be a big loss,” said BYU Offensive Coordinator Aaron Roderick. “We went into every game this year saying LJ has to carry the ball 20 times and then everything else follows. That is what kind of player he is.”

So who will be tasked to fill the enormous shoes of Martin come Saturday? According to the depth chart, it will involve a trio of seldom-used backup running backs, specifically Enoch Nawahine (5-10, 205 Sr.), Jovesa Damuni (6-0, 190 Fr.) and converted safety Preston Rex (6-0, 195 So.) None of the three have seen any type of extensive action with Nawahine having run for 51 yards on 15 carries, Rex for just 33 yards on 13 carries and Damuni, who hasn’t been trusted to carry the football since fumbling versus Stanford earlier this season.

“It is going to be by committee. We are going to spread the ball around and see if one of them gets hot, then maybe they will field more carries,” Roderick said of his gameplan heading into the game. “But right now, we have a plan to use all three of those guys.”

Despite the relatively paltry production from the aforementioned trio, Roderick expressed a certain amount of confidence in their collective abilities.

“I do have confidence in them. I’m excited,” Roderick asserted, and then singled out Damuni specifically, stating. “We kind of know, especially, next week, he has been around and done a lot of good things for us over the years. I’m excited to see Jovesa play, who he is and what he can do for us in the future. He has speed and makes some plays in practice sometimes that, you think, okay, that is going to show up in a real game when his time comes.”

On the defensive side of the football BYU will have its hands full as well in working to effectively defend Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King who is both the Yellowjacket’s leading rusher and passer.

He is one of the best we faced this year, and we faced some really good ones,” said BYU Defensive Coordinator Jay Hill. “(He) doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes that way. So he is one of these guys that earns what he gets and he does a great job at it.”

‘ll just say he’s a great quarterback all around, added BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker. “He can run, throw. They have a great O-Line. I feel

like their offense moves well and I feel like it’s going to be a great challenge.”

A challenge unlike BYU has faced so far this year, which is sort of what you want for a bowl matchup. How will BYU show up given its unique and challenging set of circumstances? Tune in come Saturday in what should truly present one of the more interesting matchups of what has proved to be a very intriguing Cougar football season.