ORLANDO — Another week, another rushing performance for the UCF football record books as it celebrated a 200th Football Bowl Subdivision victory in style.

RJ Harvey matched the single-game program record with four touchdown runs, and KJ Jefferson efficiently threw for 169 yards on 12-of-15 completions as the Knights hammered Sam Houston 45-14 on Saturday night at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

Harvey accounted for 126 of the Knights' 386 rushing yards. His four-score outing tied a mark previously set by Alex Haynes, Kevin Smith (twice), Darriel Mack Jr. and Isaiah Bowser. Myles Montgomery and Peny Boone tallied rushing touchdowns for the second straight week, and Kobe Hudson added five receptions for 104 yards.

"It was a good measuring stick of where our guys are. They put the game away early," Knights coach Gus Malzahn said.

"Overall dominant performance. … We're progressing in the right way."

The Knights improved to 2-0 for the third time in Malzahn's four seasons in charge. They face a significant test next week, opening conference play on the road against TCU (2-0). The Horned Frogs reached the College Football Playoff's national championship game two seasons ago, a first for a Big 12 team.

Here are three takeaways from the Knights' final tune-up, one delayed more than a half-hour due to lightning in the surrounding area.

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KJ Jefferson overcomes early rash of offensive penalties

UCF punched the ball into the end zone on its opening drive, but it certainly was not the cleanest execution along the way.

The Knights were flagged four times, most notably a holding call on Caden Kitler that erased an 18-yard completion from Jefferson to tight end Randy Pittman. By contrast, UCF committed just three penalties in the entirety of last week's 57-3 win over New Hampshire.

However, Jefferson was dialed in from the outset, twice moving the chains in key third-down scenarios. He scrambled for 14 yards on an early third-and-seven and slipped out of the pocket to find Pittman for a gain of 17 on third-and-14.

Jefferson, who was 7 of 14 for 164 in his team debut last week, hit on eight of his 11 attempts before halftime. He saved his best throw for last, a 53-yard strike in stride to Kobe Hudson to open the fourth quarter, leading to Boone's 3-yard plunge up the middle.

Malzahn told 96.9 The Game's Marc Daniels earlier this week that Jefferson had his best week of practice with the program.

"I felt a whole lot better," Jefferson said. "I knew, coming into this, that I fell in love with the game plan. And I knew we were going to start out fast and get into a rhythm quick.

"My confidence never really left. The main thing was that I had to command the offense and make sure we got back to playing disciplined football."

Nyjalik Kelly creates plenty of disruption off edge for UCF

A prized high school recruit just three years ago out of Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale, defensive end Nyjalik Kelly made his presence felt for UCF's defense in his second game.

Kelly, added in April from Miami via the transfer portal, delivered an early hit on Sam Houston quarterback Hunter Watson's deep throw that resulted in an easy interception for Sheldon Arnold. He got home near the end of the second quarter, bending around Bearkats left tackle Luke Eckardt and stripping Watson for a nine-yard loss for UCF's first sack of the year.

The 6-foot-5, 250-pound junior batted down a screen pass on Sam Houston's first drive after halftime. One play later, Mac McWilliams snared an easy pick, setting the Knights' offense up with a short field and eventually leading to a 7-yard touchdown run for Montgomery.

Kelly played just five times, making three starts, for Miami last season. He underwent two shoulder surgeries but was cleared in time to break fall camp with the Knights, where he emerged as the starter opposite returning sack leader Malachi Lawrence.

"The recovery process, I ain't going to lie, that was rough," Kelly said. "Two surgeries, only playing five games when it was supposed to be my jump year, it was very hard.

"I just know, when fall camp was here, I had a point to prove."

Tight end Evan Morris could handle kickoff duties

Colton Boomer continued his hot start to the season by splitting the uprights from 50 yards in the second quarter, his third career kick of 50-plus. He could, however, have his workload lightened on kickoffs going forward as Malzahn experimented with using 6-foot-5, 245-pound tight end Evan Morris in the role.

It's a strategy that sounds outlandish at face value, but Morris began his career at Michigan State as a kicker. Kohl's Kicking rated him as the No. 19 punter in the country during his high school graduating year (2019), and he tallied 15 career kickoffs for the Spartans with an average of 58.8 yards.

Morris' one kickoff on the night, early in the fourth quarter, rolled through the end zone for a touchback.

"That kick into the stands, he might be our kickoff guy from now on," Malzahn said. "We tried it out this week, and he kicked it out of the end zone. He may be our new kickoff specialist; not that Boomer didn't do a good job, he did a great job. But being able to take some things off his leg, I know last year he got a little worn down the second part of the year because of that. We'll see what happens. (Morris) might be the biggest kicker in college football."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF football: 3 takeaways from dominant home win over Sam Houston