It’s a different era in college football. Conference realignment is going crazy with the Pac-12 and Mountain West figuring things out. NIL is being abused. The Transfer Portal will be as hectic as ever this winter. One thing that we haven’t quite seen to this point is the starting quarterback of an undefeated contender calling it quits after three games.
An Undefeated College Football Playoff Favorite Just Lost Its Quarterback For The Year
Players sitting after three or four games is not a new development ever since the redshirt rules changed. However, we haven’t seen something like what happened with UNLV and Matthew Sluka.
— Matthew Sluka (@MatthewSluka) September 25, 2024
Yes, the starting quarterback for one of the best Group of 5 programs and one with an inside track to the College Football Playoff has voluntarily sat himself to preserve his redshirt.
There have been a number of rumors and speculation as to the cause of those surprising development but it all looks to be boiling down to NIL. According to Sluka, representations made to him when he committed were not upheld when he enrolled.
Was he promised one thing and UNLV and its collectives underpay? Did he try to get more and they refused?
Or, could he have been tampered with? If all of college football was forced to take Truth Serum, how many players – not just quarterbacks – would admit to being tampered with? Fellow MWC program Colorado State’s quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi claimed he and his star receiver Tory Horton were offered $600,000 to hit the portal.
If Sluka was offered one thing and UNLV underpaid, it makes perfect sense that he had a change of heart. Should he continue playing for a program that obviously doesn’t value him as much as it should just for his teammates? The older fans would likely say he should. However, he only has one year of eligibility left. Why would he use that final season playing for a team that doesn’t value him, even if they have a shot at the CFP?
Does His Play Back Up The Value?
Sluka put the college football world on notice early on this season. Through three games, Sluka has thrown for 318 yards and six touchdowns. He’s more dangerous on the ground, however, and he’s added 253 yards and scored once.
He willed his team to victory against Kansas in Week 3 and both of UNLV’s wins over FBS foes are over Big 12 teams (Kansas and Houston). It’s the first time since 1984 that UNLV has started 3-0.
However, he only completed 43.8% of his passes.
Prior to UNLV, Sluka was a stud for Holy Cross at the FCS level. He took over as the starter in 2021 and led his team to a 27-8 record over three years. In his time with the Crusaders, Sluka passed for 5,916 yards and 59 touchdowns while adding 3,583 yards and 38 touchdowns on the ground.
He actually broke the Division I single-game rushing record for a quarterback with 330 yards in a loss to Lafayette in 2023.
Sluka is a certified baller and whoever gets him is getting a solid quarterback and leader. His 43.8% completion may be a bit of an anomaly, however. While he wasn’t putting up obnoxious numbers, in his three seasons as the full-time starter for Holy Cross, he completed 58.4% of his passes. Sure, it’s not elite, but it’s a lot better than what he’s done in three games at UNLV.
Hopefully, for the good of college football as a whole, this is a one-off. Players are going to be making business decisions here in the near future but it’s not likely many will be as public as Sluka. Whether those decisions are influenced by an underpayment of NIL as we can speculate happened here or not, it’s a new era of the game.
This certainly shook up the race for that Group of 5 auto-bid for the College Football Playoff. Is it now Boise State’s to lose?
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