UNLV has not just survived the controversial early season exit of quarterback Matthew Sluka, it's flourished with Hajj-Malik Williams. Against No. 17 Boise State in Week 9 (kickoff at 10:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network), Williams will have to play his best game yet -- and perhaps be even better than Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty, a Heisman Trophy contender (odds per BetMGM) on the other sideline.
A win over the Broncos would put the Rebels up a leg in the Mountain West race, and more tantalizing, in the driver's seat for a possible College Football Playoff bid.
The veteran, record-setting passer and runner from the FCS level should be up to the challenge. Williams is 3-1 as a starter since taking over for Sluka in late September, and the Rebels have been better offensively with him. He has a 10-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio and four rushing touchdowns, and UNLV has scored at least 30 points in every game Williams has started.
He previously played five seasons at Campbell, where he departed as the career leader in passing yards (8,326) and touchdowns (58). He also ran for 1,600 yards and 24 touchdowns in his career there. In 11 games last season, Williams threw for a school-record 2,597 yards and 19 touchdowns while completing 70% of his passes. A multi-time All-Big South player with an All-America honor as a freshman, he was frequently ranked in the top 10 of multiple offensive categories in the FCS during his career.
UNLV was left scrambling when Sluka, a transfer from Holy Cross, left the team citing "representations" made to him during the recruiting process that "were not upheld." UNLV and UNLV's NIL collective responded forcefully Tuesday, and Blueprint Sports, which oversees UNILV, said "there were no formal NIL offers made during Mr. Sluka's recruitment process." Sluka was verbally promised $100,000 by an assistant at UNLV, according to ESPN.
Williams arrived on campus in the winter and battled for the starting job through the spring and summer before Sluka arrived in mid-June and named the starter ahead of the season opener. Included in the Rebels' 3-0 start is a come-from-behind win at Kansas and the program's first top-25 ranking in the Coaches Poll.
Williams was a star at Campbell, leading the program to a 6-1 start as a freshman in 2020, but he spent most of the 2021 hampered by injury. The former Hapeville (Ga.) Charter quarterback said in 2023 he received an offer out of high school from Georgia Tech late in the recruiting process but opted to stick with Campbell.
He was an electric athlete for the FCS program as both a passer and runner, recording multiple highlight-reel plays during his career. Upon his arrival at Campbell, he said he had to learn how to become a leader, according to a profile on the school's website last fall.
"(During my freshman season), I didn't know I had to ask my teammates about their family back home, what their aspirations are, what motivates them to play this sport," Williams said. "When you're in the fire, they know you have their best interests at heart and makes it easier for them to follow you."
Williams was rated a three-star prospect and the N. 58 quarterback in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. He enrolled at UNLV on Jan. 15.
UNLV added two FCS quarterbacks -- Sluka and Williams -- to the roster when last season's breakout star, Jayden Maiava, transferred to USC after earning Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Senior Cameron Friel was also in a three-way battle for the starting job in August before Sluka emerged.
"Once we learned that Jayden (Maiava) was going to USC, we just went all in on every quarterback that was in the portal that we thought fit what we're doing," Odom told CBS Sports last week. "There was some concern that, OK, we ended up taking two guys with Sluka and then Hajj-Malik Williams, who was a great player at Campbell, and then, you know, it's hard to keep two quarterbacks on a roster that aren't starting, much less three, and we had a backup from last year, Cam Friel, that stayed in the program. And so it was a three-way battle, really, for who was going to start. I think we've got three quarterbacks that we can win with, and that's really, really unique and valuable for us."
