Aaron Roderick Says It's 'Time to Find Out Who Jovesa Damuni Is'

BYU RB Jovesa Damuni takes a handoff from Bear Bachmeier against WVU | BYU Photo

BYU will be without star running back LJ Martin for the Pop-Tarts Bowl, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake announced earlier this week. Martin underwent shoulder surgery to repair an injury that he suffered against Iowa State earlier this year.

BYU also removed second-string running back Sione Moa from the depth chart. BYU hasn't officially announced Moa's status, but it's rare for a player to play after being removed from the depth chart. Moa was listed as the backup running back for the Big 12 title game.

Without Martin and Moa on the depth chart, BYU listed three players as co-starters at running back: Enoch Nawahine, Jovesa Damuni, and Preston Rex. In a press conference earlier this week, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick highlighted Jovesa Damuni. Roderick said it's "time to find out" what kind of player Jovesa can be in the future.

"But I do have confidence in [the other three running backs]. I'm excited. We kind of know what's Enoch's been, [he's been] around and done a lot of good things for us over the years. I'm excited to see Jovesa play. It's time to find out who Jovesa is and what he can do for us in the future. He has some juice. He has speed and makes some plays in practice sometimes that you think ok that's going to show up in a real game when his time comes. But it wasn't quite his time yet cause we've been trying to get the ball to LJ so much. So I'm excited to see what Jovesa does.

Jovesa Damuni is a redshirt freshman that has played a limited role for BYU in 2025. He had three carries and a reception in a game against WVU before he fumbled deep in BYU territory. After that fumble, Damuni didn't get another carry until the final week of the regular season against UCF.

Roderick didn't downplay the impact of losing the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Year, either. BYU will use all three of Rex, Damuni, and Nawahine.

"Anytime you're missing the Big 12 Player of the Year, that's going to be a big loss. We went into every game this year saying LJ has to carry the ball 20 times and then everything else follows. That's what kind of player he is. So with the other guys it's going to be by committee. We're going to spread the ball around and if one of them gets hot, maybe they'll get more carries. But right know we kind of have a plan to use all three of those guys."