LAS VEGAS — Hajj-Malik Williams walked onto the Allegiant Stadium turf Saturday as a mystery and left it as a revelation. But not before calling for a very important photo op.
UNLV’s new starting quarterback shouted at his new backup, Cameron Friel, to re-route from greeting familiar faces in the stands. So Friel hustled back to midfield. The two signal-callers slung their arms around offensive analyst Kenneth Merchant. And those who stayed memorialized the moment.
After a 59-14 dismantling of Fresno State at the end of one of the most tumultuous weeks in program history, with the unknown Williams looking like a season savior, it’s impossible to count how many words that picture was worth. In his first-ever start at the FBS level, stepping in for a starter who quit midweek, Williams completed 13 of 16 passes for 182 yards and three scores while adding a team-high 119 rushing yards and another touchdown on the ground.
Williams wasn’t made available for interviews after the game, but his points were previously made. UNLV’s vaunted “Go-Go” offense blew through all stop signs, no matter who’s under center. A program off to its first 4-0 start since 1976 still sizes up a historical season that could end with a Cinderella bid to the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“Everyone knew what we had in Hajj,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said. “At the beginning of fall camp, I said a number of times, we have three quarterbacks on this roster that can play winning football. And I still stand by that.”
It’s infamously down to two, now, of course. Previous starting quarterback Matthew Sluka abruptly walked away from the program earlier in the week, firing off claims of unmet Name, Image and Likeness promises, and a team eyeing the best season in program history had itself a tire blowout.
Williams, a transfer from FCS Campbell, left that school as its all-time leader in pass yards (8,236) and touchdowns (58). As a solution, he was something better than a roll of the dice. Still, no one outside of UNLV’s football building might’ve guessed the result would be this good.
“He’s a leader,” Rebels linebacker Jackson Woodard said. “He knows what it takes. He’s the first one in the building.”
As a quick refresher: Sluka, a transfer from FCS Holy Cross, started the first three games for UNLV, which included wins at Houston and Kansas and resulted in the program’s first-ever appearance in a top-25 poll. He completed 43.8 percent of his passes with six touchdowns during the Rebels’ 3-0 start while adding 253 rushing yards and another score.
On Tuesday evening, Sluka and his camp went public with a claim that UNLV had not followed through on $100,000 in NIL commitments it made to the player — and Sluka was therefore leaving the program to preserve a year of eligibility and seek a better deal elsewhere. In the hours to follow, everyone on the other side — the school, its third-party NIL partner, donors spearheading NIL fundraising efforts — denied the existence of any contract or commitment. UNLV’s statement classified the request as pay-for-play, which is illegal in Nevada.
Odom had been largely silent about the situation — he walked off the practice field Wednesday without comment, and only acknowledged a “roster change” at quarterback during his weekly radio show that night — and he read from a prepared statement about the situation Saturday.
“The following will be my only comments on the matter,” Odom said. “Many have expressed very strong opinions about the events of last week without full knowledge of the facts, without full knowledge of the events of last week and without full knowledge of the rules in the ever-changing, evolving NIL system. And regrettably, some have even used this circumstance as a platform for their own agendas.
“I respect everyone’s right to an opinion. And I won’t comment on others’ opinions or their motivations for expressing them. Rather I’ll say only that our football program complied with applicable rules, and subject to those rules, we’re fully committed to the development and the success of every student-athlete in our program.”
In any case, the other phases of the Rebels’ operation basically ensured the identity of the quarterback was irrelevant, at least for one weekend.
UNLV recorded four interceptions, three before halftime. It surrendered four yards rushing, total, through three quarters and posted eight tackles-for-loss. It returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in the first half and returned a kickoff for a score in the second half — the program’s first such return in 13 years. “We talked about going into attack mode in all three phases,” Odom said.
But it’s also true that any hope of crashing the playoff resides in UNLV having at least functional quarterback play. Williams allayed those concerns … for now.
“Poise,” receiver Ricky White III said. “He’s a quarterback that, as an offense, we can rally around.”
A grueling stretch awaits. Syracuse visits on Friday, followed by road trips to Utah State and Oregon State. Then it’s a marquee Mountain West showdown — and possible unofficial postseason elimination game — with Boise State. And Odom is well aware there is no margin for error in chasing this kind of history at a place like UNLV. He reiterated Saturday that this particular set of pages, warped and dog-eared as they might be, must be turned with haste.
And then a hilariously wild week ended, fittingly, with one more hilarious moment.
“I would ask that somebody reach out to the Circa CEO, and ask him — that $100,000 he wanted to donate?” White III announced, as everyone prepared to leave the postgame news conference. “Give it to our O-line. Please.”
(Photo: Ian Maule / Getty Images)
