Graney: ‘Who needs Sluka?’ Not the Rebels. Not with this QB

Lost in all of it — in the week that was for UNLV athletics, in the stories about a quarterback saying he was owed $100,000, in the decision to remain in a conference the Rebels helped form — was a young man who had nothing to do with any of it.

Hajj-Malik Williams just wanted an opportunity.

Talk about making the most of it.

Maybe this is why his teammates rallied so fervently around him as the Matthew Sluka saga played out. Maybe the senior transfer Williams owns those kind of leadership qualities.

Sure looked like it Saturday.

Williams more than did his part as the new starting quarterback for the Rebels, directing UNLV to a 59-14 whipping of Fresno State before 24,638 at Allegiant Stadium.

“We have a mature team,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said. “The things they handled and the way we prepared, not only during the bye week but carrying over into game week.”

A serious statement

It was the Mountain West opener for UNLV, and the Rebels made a serious statement about their desire to return to a league championship game and contend for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

They’re 4-0 for the first time since since entering Division I in 1978 and ranked 23rd in the coaches poll, deserving of all the national love coming their way right now.

Overcoming adversity shows the true strength of any team. How it responds. And the Rebels did so with flying colors.

I’ve rarely seen a team play with such emotion, likely spurned on by what occurred internally.

Sluka, through an agent, claimed he was promised $100,000 by a UNLV assistant coach in a name, image and likeness deal during the recruiting process. UNLV’s NIL collective denied knowing anything about it until being made aware in August. The whole thing was a mess of a story.

So it went that Sluka chose to use his redshirt year and depart school. So it went that Williams would take over the starter’s role. He was terrific.

Williams completed 13 of 16 passes for 182 yards and three scores while rushing for a team-best 119 yards with a touchdown.

Guess he can also run …

The week that was for UNLV?

Unfamiliar, hectic, controversial, satisfying.

The Rebels over the past several days were at the center of the two biggest storylines in college athletics. Those are some massive headlines for a university not accustomed to such publicity.

In addition to what happened with Sluka, UNLV made its decision to remain in the Mountain West and not join five conference defectors to the Pac-12, including the Bulldogs.

When asked if he had ever experienced such a week during his career, UNLV athletic director Erick Harper responded:

Absolutely not.

“The most important part as an athletic director, when you have something like this, the difficulties of these things that come up, is you have to be able to compartmentalize them separately so that you don’t cross one up with the other from an emotional perspective,” Harper said. “You have to be level-headed within the room with your team as you’re starting to evaluate and determine how we’re going to respond to the various different things.”

Well, the football team definitely responded behind Williams.

Passing attack

He looked about as comfortable in an offense as a quarterback can, whether it was through the air or on the ground.

He’s a better passer than Sluka, and that showed throughout, marked by a fantastic game from wide receiver Ricky White (10 catches, 127 yards, three total scores).

“The change (at quarterback) was definitely good for us,” White said. “Blessed, thankful. We just went to work. Like I said, (Williams) was one of the first quarterbacks here, so those spring reps and everything we got from him, it was clockwork for us. We just continued to follow him. He’s a great leader. A tremendous leader.”

And with 12:17 remaining in the game and UNLV up 31, this chant rang out from one corner of the stadium:

“Who needs Sluka! Who needs Sluka!”

Not the Rebels on this day.

Not with this version of Hajj-Malik Williams.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.