'I've been through a lot': UCF's RJ Harvey returns from ACL tear, carves role in backfield

RJ Harvey will always treasure his first touchdown as a UCF football player.

Late in the third quarter of the Knights' runaway win at Florida Atlantic, Harvey checked in near the goal line and stormed up the middle for a 3-yard score. He skipped through the back of the end zone, dropped the ball and bounced into a teammate — though he didn't quite stick the landing.

Harvey's TD effectively sealed the outcome, putting any lingering doubts of an upset defeat to bed. And as important as it was for the Knights, it meant so much more to the redshirt junior running back on an individual level.

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Since graduating from nearby Edgewater High, Harvey enrolled at Virginia to pursue his dreams of playing quarterback, redshirted, transferred back home to UCF while Josh Heupel was in charge, changed positions as the program changed coaching staffs and, to top it all off, tore his left ACL last fall just when the pieces were starting to fall in place.

"I've been through a lot. It's a real humbling experience," Harvey said last week in a phone interview. "I had all these thoughts in my head — Am I good enough to play? Do I really want to keep playing football again?

"I thank God for the support I have. My family and friends are keeping my head straight, making sure I'm staying focused and determined."

The doubts crept into Harvey's mind in the immediate aftermath of his knee injury, in addition to a period of inconsolable sadness.

"For like a week, I was just crying every day," Harvey said. "I just couldn't believe that it happened because I was having a great fall camp."

Harvey, listed at 5-foot-8 and 195-pounds, appeared in five games for the Knights during the 2020 season. He logged two carries for 3 yards against Temple, but was mostly buried on the depth chart behind the late Otis Anderson Jr., Greg McCrae and Bentavious Thompson.

But the following April, with Gus Malzahn named coach after Heupel's hiring at Tennessee, Harvey rushed for two touchdowns in the Knights' spring game. He carried that momentum into the fall and appeared to have a shot at earning the starting job, competing with Northwestern transfer Isaiah Bowser and incumbent speedster Johnny Richardson, among others.

"RJ is just a tough runner, man," center Matt Lee said this week. "He hits holes, breaks tackles, runs really hard and gives it his all out there.

"When you go back to last year before RJ hurt his knee, he would have been getting a bunch of carries."

That's when disaster struck.

Some the specifics have faded with time, but Harvey remembers the non-contact injury as he prepared to throw a lead block on a jet sweep.

"Before I even made contact to block the corner, my knee just gave out and I fell straight to the ground," Harvey said. "At first, I couldn't even feel anything. It didn't hurt or nothing.

"I feel like the trainers already knew what happened; they just didn't want to tell me. After a few minutes, I got up off the ground and started jogging around. It felt weird, but I didn't think anything bad of it."

MRI results confirmed a torn left ACL, ending Harvey's potentially promising season before it could begin. He underwent "successful" knee surgery in Sept. 2021, and endured seven months of rehabilitation.

Harvey returned in time for spring practice, but did not see action in the exhibition game. Nor did he get any carries in UCF's first two regular season contests — against South Carolina State and Louisville, respectively.

However, against FAU, Harvey not only spelled Bowser and Richardson as UCF's offense asserted itself in the late stages of the game but flashed a bit of burst. He gained 50 yards on eight attempts, including the touchdown.

"It was a very surreal moment," guard Lokahi Pauole said. "Ever since his injury, I know he's been working day in and day out to get the knee 100%. Obviously, you can see it. He also had an explosive run on an outside zone and made some people miss. It's fun to watch RJ, and I'm very excited for him throughout the rest of the season."

Malzahn hinted ahead of last week's home game with Georgia Tech that Harvey could see an uptick in carries, and that held true to form. He ran 12 times — all in the second half — and gained 73 yards, second only to quarterback John Rhys Plumlee's 100 on the ground.

"He had a little explosiveness to him; you can tell that," Malzahn said Monday during his weekly press conference. "He'll get more and more opportunities each game. That was a really good breath of fresh air when he came in, and it gave us a little spark when he did."

Harvey described the immediate emotions of his first touchdown as a combination of relief and joy. But, to him, the moment also served as a sense of validation — that it was worth persevering through three years of personal adversity, and that he belongs in the UCF backfield ahead of one last potential American Athletic Conference title charge.

"It felt great getting into the game and being able to do something with the ball," Harvey said. "I think I did a decent job of getting some tough yards. I just want to show more of my abilities because I know I can do more.

"I'm going to try to do my best every day, working hard and not taking anything for granted. My goal is to make a name for myself and make it to the (NFL)."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College football: RJ Harvey returns from torn ACL, adds explosiveness to UCF Knights