By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

When you’re trailing 28-7 early in the third quarter, typically you don’t think running the ball is a recipe for a comeback win. Unless, of course, you’re RJ Harvey.

UCF’s star running back carried his team to a dramatic, 35-34 comeback victory over TCU two Saturdays ago, finishing with 180 rushing yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 29 carries, plus a 29-yard receiving touchdown.

The Knights erased a 21-point deficit in the second half to open their Big 12 play with a win, The Knights are now  3-0.

Harvey went into halftime with a respectable 66 yards on the ground before shredding TCU’s defense after the break, ripping 114 yards,6.3 yards per carry to flip the momentum and score in UCF’s favor.

With a home showdown against Colorado and coach Deion Sanders on Saturday, Harvey finished sixth in FBS with 1,416 rushing yards in 2023, averaging 149.3 yards per game in 2024 (fourth in the country).

What makes UCF particularly dangerous is that Harvey doesn’t have to do it alone. Toledo transfer Peny Boone, Cincinnati transfer Myles Montgomery, and speedy senior Johnny Richardson round out arguably the deepest running back group in college football, with all four averaging at least 6 yards per carry. Add in dual-threat quarterback KJ Jefferson, and the Knights have the top rushing attack in FBS at 375.7 yards per game.

UCF lost five in a row to open league play in 2023, their first season as a member of the Big 12. The challenges of upgrading from the AAC to the Big 12 manifested into several late-game collapses, including: Kansas State, Oklahoma, and a 29-point meltdown against the Baylor Bears. Those Knights didn’t have the horses or swords to keep up.

Coach Malzahn worked to rectify 2023’s roster through the portal, adding 24 transfers this offseason.

“There’s nothing like experience in college football,” Malzahn said. “The more experienced team you have, the better chance you have to be successful. We have a lot of older guys who have played a lot of football.”

That experience showed up on the road against TCU. UCF’s defense tightened up just enough, forcing two punts and three field goals, the last one a desperation 58-yard attempt that sailed wide right as time expired.

Jefferson is still finding his footing with the Knights through three games, but when the team needed him to step up late against TCU, the veteran delivered, including a pair of 20-plus-yard touchdown passes to senior wideout Kobe Hudson.

The bigger issue last season, however, was a defense that wilted against Big 12 competition, particularly against the ground game. UCF allowed 4.9 yards per carry in 2023.

The current three-game sample isn’t enough to get excited about. They were best in the Big 12 with 2.5 yards per carry allowed in 2024, and the additions of players like Pace, Arnold and defensive linemen Nyjalik Kelly and Dayan Dotson have strengthened the defense at all three levels.

Is it improved enough to contend in the newly crowded and chaotic Big 12 race?

UCF gets their next chance to prove something on Saturday against Colorado, fresh off the Buffs’ Hail Mary overtime win against Baylor.

It’s still up for debate how much better this Colorado team is compared to their last place finish in the Pac-12 in 2023, but it boasts two game-changing talents in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, as well as the Coach Prime effect: Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show is headed to Orlando, Fla., and the game gets the network’s 3:30 p.m. ET national spotlight.

It’s probably the biggest showcase UCF has had since ESPN’s “College GameDay” in Orlando in 2018.

These Knights will face more challenging in-conference tests against Iowa State, BYU, Arizona and Utah later in the schedule, as well as a short trip to Gainesville on Oct. 5 for a non-conference game that could kill Billy Napier’s tenure at Florida.

If UCF truly is good enough to compete for a Big 12 title, it should take care of business at home against a Colorado team that needed a last-second miracle to beat Baylor. The uniqueness of Saturday is an opportunity to burnish those bona fides with plenty of eyeballs watching.

UCF is a young Power 4 team with a lot of growth. Saturday at 4 pm, The Bounce House will be rockin and a large national audience will see UCF. UCF 34 Colorado 23