UNLV QB Matthew Sluka Is Quitting on the Remainder of the Season Due to Unfulfilled 'Commitments' From the Program

UNLV is undefeated with two wins over Big 12 teams. The Rebels are one of the favorites to get the Group of Five's guaranteed College Football Playoff spot. Or at least they were before their starting quarterback announced on September 24 that he wouldn't be playing the rest of the season.

Matthew Sluka has been solid through three games this season, throwing six touchdowns and just one interception while leading UNLV to wins over Houston and Kansas. But it seems like the Rebels will have to continue their Playoff push with someone else under center the rest of the way. This certainly reads like an NIL situation, though Sluka did not specify what the "commitments" were that were made to him that have supposedly gone unfulfilled. A Las Vegas sports reporter said, however, that Sluka was approached by another school with an offer before announcing his intentions to redshirt the rest of the season.

I'm as free market as it gets when it comes to NIL and the transfer portal, but I must admit a team just outside the Top 25 and in serious contention for a CFP spot losing its quarterback due to an NIL dispute in the middle of the season is pretty fucking nuts. I don't think there's a way to spin this as being good for the sport, but it may just be an unavoidable consequence of letting college football operate like every other business in America. Sure, we're not used to seeing this from a college quarterback, but if someone working as an accountant in Iowa wasn't getting paid what he felt he was worth to the point that he wanted to quit his job, he'd be well within his rights to do that. If it's true that another school approached Sluka during the season while he's on someone else's roster and induced him to transfer, however, that's a different story.

Regardless, we're in uncharted territory in college sports. I don't think what Sluka did will become commonplace at all, but I'd also be shocked if he's the only guy who ever does it. The players kinda have everybody over a barrel.