Midway through the first quarter, running back and the defending Big 12 Conference offensive player of the year LJ Martin left the game due to an apparent ankle injury. The impact of his non-participation was readily apparent in a game where TCU all but shut down all other offensive endeavors, for the most part, up until Cougar quarterback took the onus upon himself to secure the win.

A few plays later, during Faletau Satuala’s interception, senior linebacker Isaiah Glasker exited to the medical tent with what appeared to be a serious injury to his lower leg, causing him to stand on the sidelines with a towel draped over his head. One-by-one, Glasker’s defensive teammates took time to console him with others, such as edge Nusi Taumoepeau offering apparent prayers while standing by his side, indicating the injury may be serious.

“The good thing is that he was standing and moving, so we’ll have to evaluate. Same thing with LJ,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake, pointing out the positive. “So it wasn’t like those guys were on crutches or anything like that. I’m encouraged with that, but you never know until you get a look at it and get to evaluate it with MRIs and things like that.”

Martin, meanwhile, appeared less hobbled and worked with trainers extensively in an effort to come back into the game before donning street clothes out of the half time locker room.

BYU struggled to pose much of a ground game without Martin. Preston Rex received the first nod as primary ball-carrier, and saw some decent gains before finishing the game with just 21 yards on eight carries. Freshman Journee Tonga became the top option late, and contributed 28 yards on seven carries while proving pivotal and BYU’s critical final touchdown drive, although neither him nor Rex could equal the overall impact of Martin.

“LJ is the best back in the Big 12. So, it’s going to hurt any team when someone like that goes down,” said Rex. “But we learn from the best. Coach Harvey (Unga) is the best in the nation. LJ is really good in between the tackles, and I feel like I’m a change-of-pace guy, so we got the talent. So, it was just our time to step up, and we did enough. We got the job done tonight.”

“It’s just getting your mind right that you’re going to be in the game for, you know, four or five series, right?,” said BYU linebacker Jake Clifton, who largely spelled Glasker. “My body hasn’t really gone through that recently, but everybody on the team has put confidence in me. (My teammates) all came up to me and instilled confidence in me. So, at the end of the day, next guy’s up.”

And it wasn’t just Martin and Glasker who needed to be replaced.

BYU also had to make do without standout sophomore defensive back and primary returner Cannon DeVries, who also left the game early with an undisclosed injury.

Critical kicking

One of the key moments of Saturday’s game was BYU coaches opting to rely on their field goal unit to attempt a 49-yard field goal midway through the third quarter when points were at a premium. Kicker Matthias Dunn responded, along with long-snapper Ty Smith and holder Fuller Shurtz in tough conditions to provide the type of conversion TCU couldn’t match late on its own attempt that was eight yards closer.

“Justin (Ena) is our special teams coordinator for a reason, and that’s that’s all he does. He does full time on that,” Sitake said. “He’s such a hard worker that he’s going to get these guys ready … Those guys have been snapping wet balls, and Ty Smith has been snapping wet balls for two weeks now, just prepping for this moment. We had no issues with it on … all that stuff, and that’s Coach Ena. So, uh, I like to take credit, but that’s that’s my guy and my former roommate that made that thing happen.”