‘Service as usual’ for 4-0 UNLV without Sluka

• Max Olson, ESPN Staff WriterSep 28, 2024, 08:48 PM ET

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  • Covers the Big 12
  • Signed up with ESPN in 2012
  • Graduate of the University of Nebraska

LAS VEGAS– UNLV made a statement Saturday in its very first game without previous beginning quarterback Matthew Sluka: The Rebels are going to be just fine.Rolling to a dominant 59-14 win over Fresno State and moving to 4-0, UNLV showed it will be a competitor in the Mountain West Conference race despite its quarterback change.Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 182 backyards, rushed for 119 yards and represented 4 overall touchdowns in his very first start for the Rebels after Sluka opted to leave the program Wednesday over a dispute about his NIL payment.”It was company as normal,”UNLV coach Barry Odom stated.”We have actually got an extremely fully grown group.

… Our players, we have actually got strong leadership. They understand the objective that we’re on and they got it done. “Williams, a sixth-year senior and FCS transfer from Campbell, joined the Rebels in January and lost a close competition with Sluka in fall camp. The 24-year-old quarterback played in 41 games at Campbell, leaving as the program’s profession leader in passing backyards and touchdowns, and was prepared for his chance. “I thought he was effective, I thought he was efficient,”Odom stated.

“I believed the offending line did a remarkable job protecting him. I thought the receivers ran fantastic paths. I believed the runners ran hard. We played well as an offense. “UNLV wide receiver Ricky White III led the Rebels with a season-high

10 catches for 127 lawns and two touchdowns and stated the quarterback change was” certainly helpful for us.” “He’s just an excellent quarterback that us, as an offense, we can rally behind and simply pass his rate, “White said.After beginning three games for UNLV, Sluka opted to redshirt and was expected to get in

the transfer website in December. Sluka’s daddy and representative have declared he was verbally promised $100,000 by UNLV offensive planner Brennan Marion during his recruitment but received just$3,000 from the school’s NIL cumulative. UNLV said in a statement that Sluka’s representatives made monetary needs for him to keep playing that it translated as”an infraction of NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law.” Editor’s Picks 2 Associated Odom read from a ready statement during his postgame news conference and did not take concerns relating to Sluka. He said UNLV abided by appropriate guidelines and was devoted to the advancement and success of every player in the program.”Many have revealed extremely strong viewpoints about the occasions of last week without full understanding of the facts, without complete understanding of the events of

recently and without complete knowledge of the rules in the ever-changing, evolving NIL system, “Odom said.”And sadly, some have actually even utilized this situation as a platform for their own programs. I appreciate everyone’s right to a viewpoint, and I won’t comment on others’opinions or their inspirations for revealing them. “White also had a message for Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens after the Vegas gambling establishment revealed interest in providing $100,000 to keep Sluka on the team, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that doing so would deserve it”to keep the Rebels ‘playoff hopes alive.””I would ask that somebody connect to the Circa CEO and ask him, with that $100,000 that he wished to donate, offer it to our O-line please, “White said.The Rebels ended a six-game losing streak versus Fresno State and accomplished the program’s first 4-0 start given that 1976 with a strong day in all 3 stages of the game. Their defense produced 4 interceptions and four sacks while giving up only 30 hurrying backyards, and their special groups delivered an obstructed punt that White returned for a goal in the very first quarter plus a 90-yard kickoff return goal by Jai’Den Thomas in the 4th quarter.The victory kept UNLV in the race for the broadened 12-team College Football Playoff and concluded a chaotic week for an athletic department that was all at once dealing with the current round of conference adjustment in college athletics.UNLV officially chose to remain in the Mountain West on Thursday, declining a relocate to the Pac-12 following that league’s addition of Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State for 2026. The seven remaining schools in the Mountain West consented to a grant of rights that will bind them to the conference through 2031-32. After already beating Big 12 members Houston and Kansas in nonconference play, UNLV gets another opportunity to take down a Power 4 challenger and strengthen its CFP résumé when it hosts 3-1 Syracuse on Friday. “Our guys will turn the page really quickly, “Odom stated.” I could inform in the locker space we’re ready

to do that and get on to the next game. “