Devaughn Eka arrived at BYU last January as a highly touted three-star prospect from nearby Lehi High and quickly turned heads in spring camp as a running back and kick returner who could possibly help the Cougars on special teams while stars LJ Martin and Sione Moa handled the bulk of the carries.
Journee Tonga didn’t get enrolled at BYU until this summer, after committing to the Cougars last January and waiting out the seemingly never-ending process to get his high school transcripts squared away. Most fans and reporters weren’t aware that the 5-foot-8 running back was on the 2026 roster until the first day of preseason training camp.
Tonga is a walk-on, having turned down scholarship offers from the likes of Hawaii, San Jose State and Southern Utah to take an academic scholarship at BYU.
Now, both freshmen could be pressed into action in BYU’s offensive backfield much sooner than almost anyone anticipated. Moa announced on Wednesday night that he suffered a devastating knee injury in last Saturday’s 63-7 win over Utah Tech. He wrote on Instagram that he suffered a torn MCL and PCL and has undergone surgery.
That means Eka and Tonga have become more than just mop-up guys.
Junior Preston Rex likely becomes RB2 behind the reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Martin, while offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Tuesday that both Eka and Tonga showed well enough against the Trailblazers that they could be used in this Saturday’s Big 12 opener against Arizona (1:30 p.m. MDT, Fox) and well beyond that.
“We don’t really do it that way,” Roderick said when asked whether Tonga or Eka is RB3. “… We just try to feature everybody doing what they do best, so it’s not really about the depth chart. It’s about certain situations that come up in the game. If a certain situation comes up first, and it’s that guy’s turn to do that thing that he does well, then he’s going in.”
Obviously, BYU takes a huge step up in competition this week — Arizona blasted Northern Arizona 35-7 in its opener and is expected to contend for the league title — but Eka and Tonga showed last week that they have what it takes to play at this level.
Eka, 5-11 and 190 pounds, had eight carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, a bulldozing 11-yard run in which he plowed over two defenders to reach the end zone.
Tonga, who was featured in this Deseret News article after his surprise addition to the roster in August, went for 34 yards on his first collegiate carry, then capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run.
Roderick said in fall camp that even some of BYU’s best defenders were having trouble tackling the elusive Tonga.
‘A very good football player’
“I wasn’t surprised at all because he does that in practice against our first-team defense,” Roderick said Tuesday. “Journee is a very good football player, and I want to choose my words wisely because it was just one game, but I expect him to be a really good player for us for the next few years.”
Rex, a former safety, also reached the end zone last Saturday, from 9 yards out. He finished with 38 yards on five carries. Moa had six carries for 22 yards before he asked to be taken out of the game in the first quarter, while Martin had seven carries for 54 yards.
“Yeah, I was super proud of Journee and Devaughn and some of the younger guys that really stepped up,” Rex said. “They just did their part. They are going to be amazing players coming up in the future. … The (second-team) offensive line did a great job in that second half, so I was really proud of them, too.”
While impressed with what Rex, Eka and Tonga were able to do against overmatched Utah Tech, Roderick said the real tests lie ahead — beginning Saturday against an Arizona defense that was one of the nation’s best last year.
“When you ask me how deep we are at this position or that position, we’re going to find out in these next few weeks as we start playing good teams, and it starts Saturday with Arizona,” Roderick said. “It’s a very, very good team, and they’re very physical. You have to show up ready to play. … They’re going to have to be tough, and they’re going to have to block people, and they’re going to have to run the ball, break tackles.”
‘Getting the playbook down’
After Tuesday’s practice concluded, Eka stayed on the field and worked out one-on-one with running backs coach Harvey Unga for about 15 minutes, a sure sign that he will probably be needed Saturday.
“Just getting the playbook down a little bit better,” Eka said. “… Any time they put me in, I am just going to do what I can. … We got Preston and Journee, too. We have a bunch of dogs in the running backs room.”
Eka had 3,276 rushing yards in his high school career, including 1,038 last fall. He said he received a scholarship offer from BYU on the same day that his Lehi teammate, BYU freshman sensation Legend Glasker, did.
He was more of a University of Utah football fan when he was younger, he said, but slowly moved over to the BYU side as he attended games in Provo — about 20 miles south of Lehi.
“I chose BYU because of the Big 12 (membership), and it is close to home. It was perfect,” he said. “It was exactly what I needed.”
Eka said Unga, his primary recruiter, is another reason he chose BYU.
“He always kept it real,” Eka said.
Why BYU?
Speaking to reporters for the first time on Tuesday, Tonga said he’s a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is a “big reason” why he committed to BYU back in January. However, he doesn’t anticipate serving a two-year mission.
“I am planning to stay here (three or four years),” he said.
Another reason for turning down a free education to walk on at BYU was his relationship with head coach Kalani Sitake and the other coaches.
“Everyone in the building here,” he said. “I just wanted to be around positive people and in a winning program, and being a running back with LJ (Martin) and to be able to shadow him and see everything he does. So yeah, that’s what helped me pick BYU.”
At Leuzinger High in Lawndale, California, Tonga played quarterback, slot receiver, cornerback, safety, linebacker and on special teams before settling on running back, where he excelled.
As a senior, he ran for 1,334 yards, a total that would have been higher if he wasn’t asked to play quarterback for three games while the starter recovered from an injury. He finished his three-year prep career with 4,030 rushing yards and 48 touchdowns.
