Robert "RJ" Harvey Jr. is an American football running back for the UCF Knights. He previously played for the Virginia Cavaliers.
| UCF Knights – No. 7 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Running back |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m) |
| Weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | |
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Edgewater (Orlando, Florida) |
Early life and high school
editHarvey was born in Orlando, Florida.[1] He began playing football at age five.[2] He attended Edgewater High School in Orlando and played three varsity football seasons as a dual-threat quarterback.[2] Although the team lost every game in his sophomore year, he helped them rebound with a 9–3 record and district championship the following season.[2] As a senior, Harvey threw for 42 touchdowns and 1,815 passing yards and ran for 1,350 yards and 22 scores as the team reached the state playoffs with a 12–2 record.[3] He also maintained a 4.3 grade-point average (GPA) off the field.[3] Harvey was ranked a three-star recruit and the 39th-best dual-threat quarterback nationally, committing to play college football for the Virginia Cavaliers.[4]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Virginia in 2019, Harvey was the third quarterback on the depth chart and redshirted, not seeing any playing time.[5][6] He then entered the NCAA transfer portal and transferred to the UCF Knights.[5] In 2020 at UCF, after transferring to running back he appeared in five games and ran twice for three yards as a backup.[7] He had a chance to be a starter entering the 2021 season, but suffered a torn ACL in preseason camp and missed the entire year.[7]
Harvey returned in 2022 and appeared in 13 games with three starts, being named second-team All-American Athletic Conference (AAC) by Pro Football Network (PFN) while running 118 times for 796 yards and five touchdowns, in addition to 22 receptions for 215 yards.[8] He entered the 2023 season as the team's top running back.[9] Starting on October 7 against Kansas, he had five consecutive games with over 100 rushing yards, the longest streak at the school since 2007.[9] Against 15th-ranked Oklahoma State, he ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns, helping UCF win 45–3 in an upset.[10] He was named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award as best running back nationally and became the first UCF player to run for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2018. With 1,416 yards & 16 TDs, Harvey had the sixth-highest amount of running yards and rushing touchdowns in the nation. [11]
References
edit- ^ "RJ Harvey". ESPN.
- ^ a b c Herring, Troy (September 21, 2018). "RJ Harvey leads the Eagles forward". West Orange Times & Observer.
- ^ a b "Edgewater High School football team reflects on winning 2018 season". The Community Paper. January 2, 2019.
- ^ Beede, Jason (August 19, 2020). "Former UVA QB, Orlando native RJ Harvey headed to UCF". 247Sports.
- ^ a b Hayes, Chris (August 19, 2020). "Former Edgewater QB R.J. Harvey transfers to UCF from Virginia". The Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ "RJ Harvey". Virginia Cavaliers.
- ^ a b Boyle, Chris (September 28, 2022). "'I've been through a lot': UCF's RJ Harvey returns from ACL tear, carves role in backfield". The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
- ^ "RJ Harvey". UCF Knights.
- ^ a b Murschel, Matt (November 13, 2023). "UCF tailback RJ Harvey takes his game to next level". The Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ Rossman-Reich, Philip. "R.J. Harvey, UCF run past No. 15 Oklahoma State in 45-3 upset". USA Today. Associated Press.
- ^ Wilson, Justin (November 21, 2023). "Harvey Named Semifinalist for Doak Walker Award". UCF Knights.