ORLANDO — Friday night’s final blow, a 28-14 defeat to Utah, served as a microcosm for UCF’s demoralizing 2024 season.
Save for a few moments of individual magic from RJ Harvey, who set the school’s all-time touchdown record before halftime, UCF endured the same inconsistent quarterbacking, committed the same irredeemable mistakes and despondently walked off the field searching for answers that never came.
Utah snapped a seven-game losing streak by turning three Knights turnovers into 17 points, and further turned up the heat on Gus Malzahn. The 59-year-old coach dropped to 28-24 overall at the completion of his fourth season, including a 5-13 mark against Big 12 opponents since UCF joined the conference last year.
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“It’s very disappointing,” Malzahn said. “We had some close losses that were tough. We played musical quarterbacks throughout the year. That never helps. We had some injuries. But the bottom line is we didn’t get it done. We had some opportunities to win some games. It was uphill.”
Malzahn refuted speculation that he would consider retirement following last Saturday’s loss at West Virginia, one which ended UCF’s eight-year bowl streak. His contract, signed last summer, runs through the 2027 season and features an eight-figure buyout.
Asked whether he was concerned about his job security, Malzahn replied, “I’m concerned about trying to make this team better.”
Here are three takeaways from a finale that casts huge doubt on Malzahn and UCF’s football future.
In search for ‘spark,’ UCF spins QB carousel one last time
Since benching KJ Jefferson in October, following a second consecutive loss at Florida, Malzahn has sought a “spark” at quarterback on a near quarter-by-quarter basis. Dylan Rizk drew his fourth start, but Jacurri Brown was utilized in the first half in subpackages.
Rizk struggled, producing an 11-of-27 passing line for 118 yards and an interception returned 60 yards to the end zone by Zemaiah Vaughn near the midway point of the second quarter. He lost a fumble on the Knights’ opening drive and was sacked twice.
In the fourth quarter, Malzahn turned back to true freshman EJ Colson, who earned the start Oct. 12 against Cincinnati. Colson also threw a pick-6 to Smith Snowden in the fourth quarter, absorbed three sacks and tossed a 6-yard TD pass to Harvey with 19 seconds left.
“We’ve got some talented, young men that are young and need experience,” Malzahn said. “We’ll evaluate everything now that the season’s over. We’ll go from there.
“I think we’ve got guys that are talented and that are going to be really good quarterbacks. That’s the best I can say right now.”
Within an hour of the game ending, Colson announced on social media that he intended to hit the transfer portal with four years of eligibility remaining. He reclassified last December, enrolled over the summer and broke camp as the team’s No. 3 quarterback.
Nyjalik Kelly, UCF defense hold up their end
Though its offense struggled to pick up Utah’s blitzes and finish drives, UCF’s defense held up its end of the bargain against a largely inept Utes offense.
Nyjalik Kelly registered two sacks, and Lee Hunter chipped in 2½ of the Knights’ seven tackles for loss. Deshawn Pace and Ethan Barr shared the team lead with seven tackles apiece.
Utah mounted only three scoring drives offensively, kicking a field goal after Rizk’s early fumble and settling for another chip shot on its first foray into the red zone. Landen King gave the Utes much-needed separation by hauling in a 15-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bottari in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Bottari, by the way, began the season as Utah’s fifth-string quarterback. Cameron Rising, Brandon Rose, Isaac Wilson and Sam Huard all suffered injuries across the 12-game grind.
The Knights’ roster could look dramatically different in the days and weeks ahead when the transfer portal officially opens Dec. 9, but Kelly could be among the unit’s building blocks in 2025 after starting all 12 games and recording 53 tackles with a team-high 5½ sacks.
Freshman cornerback Chasen Johnson and sophomore linebacker Xe’Ree Alexander chipped in five tackles apiece, each blossoming into every-down players for the Knights down the stretch.
Braeden Marshall and Malachi Lawrence, sidelined for the finale due to injury, are penciled in as returning starters. Additionally, highly touted defensive tackle John Walker should return after missing the entire season with a knee injury.
RJ Harvey crowned UCF’s all-time touchdown king
In spite of all that went wrong this year, Harvey produced one of the finest seasons ever by a UCF player.
The 5-foot-9, 220-pound fifth-year senior posted his ninth 100-yard rushing game, becoming only the second player in school history to hit the century mark in six straight contests. He ended the year with 1,577 rushing yards, 267 receiving yards and 25 total touchdowns.
Harvey’s 5-yard run at the 3:25 mark of the second quarter moved him past Kevin Smith for sole possession of the school’s all-time record.
“He’s a guy that comes to work every day and works his butt off,” tackle Amari Kight said. “It’s exciting to see your teammates achieve great goals like that.”
Harvey narrowly missed the cut as a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back. He began the night fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing, trailing only Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton — the three finalists.
At the end of January, Harvey will head to Mobile, Alabama, to participate in the Reese’s Senior Bowl with hopes to improve his NFL draft stock. He will be joined by UCF cornerback BJ Adams, who was inactive for the third time in UCF’s last four games.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football: 3 takeaways from season-ending loss to Utah Utes
