Running back, UCLA (from James Madison), 2022–26
Wayne Knight
- Number
- No. 3
- Height
- 5′7″
- Weight
- 193 lb
- Class (2026)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Smyrna, DE
Wayne Knight plays running back for UCLA, after James Madison (2022–25). Knight is No. 5 in FBS in rushing touchdowns this season. Last time out, against Wisconsin: 13 carries, 23 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 6 yards.
2026 so far
571 rushing yards, 11 TD
No. 5 in FBS in rushing touchdowns
Last game: 13 carries, 23 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 6 yards vs. Wisconsin, W 17–7
Next game: vs. Michigan State, Oct 24
Filled bars: wins; outlined: losses.
At a glance
Career highs
212rushing yards, career highvs. Troy, 20253rushing touchdowns, career hightwice; last vs. San Diego State, 20266catches, career highvs. App State, 2025All-America: AP second team 2025
Team titles: Sun Belt champions, 2025
Rushing
* The season in progress, so far.
| Season | Team | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | James Madison | 5 | −8 | −1.6 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | James Madison | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 0 | 22 |
| 2024 | James Madison | 77 | 449 | 5.8 | 2 | 59 |
| 2025 | James Madison | 207 | 1,373 | 6.6 | 9 | 73 |
| 2026 | UCLA | 84 | 571 | 6.8 | 11 | 47 |
| Career | 377 | 2,408 | 6.4 | 22 | 73 | |
Receiving
| Season | Team | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | James Madison | 5 | 63 | 12.6 | 0 | 32 |
| 2023 | James Madison | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2024 | James Madison | 15 | 138 | 9.2 | 2 | 23 |
| 2025 | James Madison | 40 | 397 | 9.9 | 1 | 57 |
| 2026 | UCLA | 14 | 106 | 7.6 | 1 | 22 |
| Career | 75 | 715 | 9.5 | 4 | 57 | |
Returns
| Season | Team | KR | Yds | TD | PR | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | James Madison | 4 | 87 | 0 | – | – | – |
| 2025 | James Madison | 4 | 89 | 0 | 21 | 179 | 0 |
| 2026 | UCLA | 8 | 160 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Career | 16 | 336 | 0 | 21 | 179 | 0 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | James Madison | 3 | RB | Yr 1 | ||
| 2023 | James Madison | 3 | RB | Yr 2 | ||
| 2024 | James Madison | 3 | RB | Yr 3 | ||
| 2025 | James Madison | 3 | RB | Yr 4 | ||
| 2026 | UCLA | 3 | RB | Sr. (Yr 5) | 5′7″ | 193 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage | Adj. rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | James Madison | 9 | 0.01 | – | – | 0.1 | – | – |
| 2023 | James Madison | 5 | 0.18 | – | – | 0.9 | – | – |
| 2024 | James Madison | 91 | 0.19 | 59th (n=434) | 0.16 | 17.2 | 10% | 0.12 |
| 2025 | James Madison | 262 | 0.26 | 90th (n=576) | 0.10 | 67.4 | 26% | 0.25 |
| 2026 | UCLA | 101 | 0.38 | 95th (n=478) | 0.10 | 38.6 | 25% | 0.48 |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). Adjusted pass and rush: EPA per play adjusted for the defenses faced (CollegeFootballData’s WEPA). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Rushing detail
| Season | Team | Success | Line yards | Second level | Open field | Stuffed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James Madison | 48% | 3.20 | 1.20 | 2.40 | 20% |
| 2026 | UCLA | 51% | 3.60 | 1.10 | 2.00 | 13% |
Where his yards came from, per carry: line yards are the ones credited to the blockers (the first few, and losses), second level the yards 5 to 10 past the line, open field those beyond 10. Success: carries that kept the offense on schedule. Stuffed: carries stopped at or behind the line. From CollegeFootballData, FBS games, 2025 on.
Game by game
2026 UCLA 6 games, 571 rushing yards, 11 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5 | at | W 45–24 | 8 | 71 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 0 |
| Sep 12 | vs. | W 28–10 | 13 | 97 | 3 | – | – | – |
| Sep 19 | vs. | W 52–38 | 18 | 177 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 0 |
| Sep 26 | at | W 54–3 | 10 | 100 | 1 | 3 | 35 | 0 |
| Oct 10 | at | W 17–15 | 22 | 103 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| Oct 17 | vs. | W 17–7 | 13 | 23 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
2025 James Madison 14 games, 1,373 rushing yards, 9 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 45–10 | 7 | 89 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 0 |
| Sep 5 | at | L 14–28 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 23 | 0 |
| Sep 20 | at | W 31–13 | 17 | 89 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 0 |
| Sep 27 | vs. | W 35–10 | 19 | 151 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | at | W 14–7 | 13 | 85 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| Oct 11 | vs. | W 24–14 | 20 | 111 | 0 | 5 | 23 | 0 |
| Oct 18 | vs. | W 63–27 | 12 | 74 | 1 | 2 | 27 | 0 |
| Oct 28 | at | W 52–20 | 13 | 48 | 0 | 2 | 69 | 0 |
| Nov 8 | at | W 35–23 | 14 | 87 | 1 | 4 | 79 | 1 |
| Nov 15 | vs. | W 58–10 | 16 | 94 | 1 | 6 | 55 | 0 |
| Nov 22 | vs. | W 24–20 | 15 | 126 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Nov 29 | at | W 59–10 | 18 | 85 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Dec 5 | vs. | W 31–14 | 21 | 212 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| Dec 20 ✦ | at | L 34–51 | 17 | 110 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 0 |
2024 James Madison 13 games, 449 rushing yards, 2 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | at | W 30–7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Sep 7 | vs. | W 13–6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Sep 21 | at | W 70–50 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Sep 28 | vs. | W 63–7 | 6 | 63 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 5 | at | L 19–21 | 1 | 16 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 10 | vs. | W 39–7 | 6 | 43 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 19 | at | L 14–28 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Oct 26 | vs. | W 32–15 | 7 | 61 | 0 | 2 | 41 | 0 |
| Nov 9 | vs. | W 38–7 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 26 | 1 |
| Nov 16 | at | W 35–32 | 11 | 74 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 0 |
| Nov 23 | at | L 20–34 | 12 | 61 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Nov 30 | vs. | L 33–35 | 11 | 61 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 1 |
| Dec 18 ✦ | vs. | W 27–17 | 11 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 0 |
2023 James Madison 1 game, 23 rushing yards
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 | vs. | W 38–3 | 4 | 23 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
2022 James Madison 7 games, −8 rushing yards
| Date | Opponent | Result | Car | Rush yds | Rush TD | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | vs. | W 44–7 | 1 | −1 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 0 |
| Sep 10 | vs. | W 63–7 | 3 | −8 | 0 | – | – | – |
| Oct 1 | vs. | W 40–13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Nov 5 | at | L 10–34 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nov 12 | at | W 37–3 | – | – | – | 1 | 32 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | vs. | W 42–40 | – | – | – | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Nov 26 | vs. | W 47–7 | – | – | – | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
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