How UNLV’s QB earned his new nickname, starting role

UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka earned a new nickname during the Rebels’ season opener.

He opened the third quarter of UNLV’s 27-7 win at Houston with a backward pass that hit the turf and somehow bounced right into senior wide receiver Jacob De Jesus’ hands. De Jesus would only run for four yards, but the play still made waves.

“Bounce pass in football is crazy,” the official UNLV football account posted on X. “He’s (really) Sluka Doncic.”

The social media reaction referenced a nickname seemingly first used to describe the senior Holy Cross transfer in a post from “Unnecessary Roughness,” a Barstool Sports podcast. By the end of UNLV’s near-shutout, the nickname was trending on X, with posts comparing Sluka to five-time NBA All-Star Luka Doncic.

While the Slovenian basketball player has his own moniker, “Luka Magic,” Sluka said this week that this is a first for him.

“It’s not too common of a last name, so it’s kind of just stuck,” he said. “I have four brothers as well, and we all kind of go by Sluka. So it’s just been a family thing, but I’ve never had a nickname or anything like that.”

Sluka can now also go by “QB1,” a title he earned after a battle with sixth-year Campbell transfer Hajj-Malik Williams and returning senior Cameron Friel that lasted for the entirety of fall camp.

The Rebels (1-0) play their home opener against Football Championship Subdivision opponent Utah Tech (0-1) at noon Saturday at Allegiant Stadium.

Starting selection

Second-year coach Barry Odom shrouded the selection process for UNLV’s starting quarterback in mystery, so that fans were unsure who would get the nod until Sluka’s reps during pregame warmups for the season opener made the answer apparent.

But it wasn’t a quick process. Odom said the staff was still working to come to a decision in the final week leading up to Houston. So, how did Sluka earn the starting role in Las Vegas?

Odom said it came down to analytics — production, turnovers, efficiency and more — along with discussions in staff meetings.

“It was a body of work over fall camp,” Odom said. “A whole list of things that we looked at, on what we thought gave us the best chance in game one, and Sluka was the guy that we felt comfortable with.”

Every quarterback on the roster will be important at some point, Odom added, which is why the team will continue working to develop all three.

But neither Malik-Williams or Friel saw the field against the Cougars. It was the Sluka show, which featured two touchdown passes to De Jesus in the first half and a final line of 71 yards on 6-of-13 passing with an interception.

Sluka also ran for 59 yards on 11 attempts, utilizing the legs he honed in previous years playing running back and lacrosse. But what impressed Odom was the signal-caller’s game management.

“I think all three quarterbacks have the opportunity to extend plays with their legs,” Odom said. “Key is, can you extend it also and keep your eyes downfield, and then have the physical traits to be able to deliver the ball? And (Sluka) did all that.”

‘Really excited’

That aside, Odom said every position “should be a lot better” this week against the Trailblazers, who lost to Montana State 31-7 in their opener.

“There’s a lot of new faces out there, and blending all that together on both sides of the ball, that’s one of our challenges. But that’s college football now,” Odom said. “How fast can you get them enough reps to be game-ready, and then can they go execute with all the new surroundings around them? That’s part of the fun of the process now.”

For Sluka’s part, changing scenery from Massachusetts to Nevada is a net positive.

“Being inside will definitely be a nice, nice change. But also just the facilities and everything that they have (at Allegiant Stadium), unbelievable,” Sluka said. “So just to be able to experience a home game here at UNLV, I’m really excited for that.”

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.