(Photo courtesy of New York Post) “Jalen Milroe and Ryan Williams take the field”
James Guiry
Connector Staff
The college football landscape as we know it has completely changed, with NIL money driving players’ decisions, the now expanded College Football Playoff (which is expanding even more) and the new conference realignment that decimated the PAC-12. There are plenty of arguments as to why these changes are good and why they are bad. However, these changes sparked the story that dominated the headlines in Week 5. Matthew Sluka, former quarterback of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels, is no longer with the team.
The UNLV Rebels were undefeated (3-0) and ranked No. 23 in the AP poll headed into week 5 when Matthew Sluka, the starting quarterback decided to utilize his redshirt season and announce he would enter the transfer portal at the end of the season. This means that he will not play another game for the Rebels. He claims he was offered $100,000 from the school and they only paid $3000.
The situation seemed cut and dry until Mike Palm, Vice President of Operations at Circa Sports, a sportsbook company located in Las Vegas, offered to pay the remaining amount of money. The school declined this offer. According to the Action Network, UNLV stated in response to Palm saying, “We will not be doing business with the Sluka family again.” We cannot be certain what happened between Sluka and UNLV, still, there seems to be more than just a cash dispute going on here.
The Rebels fell on the leadership of Hajj-Malik Williams, the backup to Sluka. Williams threw 13/16 (81%) for 182 yards and three touchdowns as well as having 12 rushes for 119 yards and a touchdown in the Rebels’ 59-14 victory over Fresno State in Week 5, a game that had a 2.5-point spread going into it. It is safe to say that the Rebels playoff hopes are still alive under the leadership of Hajj-Malik Williams.
Week 5 saw No. 2 Georgia face off against No. 4 Alabama. Coming into this game, Georgia was on a 42-game regular season win streak spanning multiple seasons. Coach Kirby Smart, of the Georgia Bulldogs, had a record of 97-17 making him one of the better college football coaches in history. However, five of his 17 losses came to Nick Saban and Alabama. It is apparently no different under new head coach Kalen DeBoer. Alabama came out firing, leading Georgia 30-7 at the half.
The game seemed over but Georgia took the lead late in the fourthquarter, 34-33. Alabama lined up with 2:31 remaining in the game and quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a pass almost 30 yards down the field to 17-year-old freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams. Williams was covered but jumped back for the ball and did a spin move, sending two Georgia defenders barreling toward each other. He continued down the field stiff-arming one Georgia defender and getting to the end zone on a phenomenal play from a young wideout. Alabama went for two and took the lead 41-34 with 2:18 remaining in the game. Their defense held their ground for two stops and Alabama came away with the win against a higher ranked opponent.
Alabama is still haunting Kirby Smart, even without Nick Saban.
Group of 5 teams, or teams that are not in a conference like the SEC, Big 10, ACC, or Big 12 do not have a chance to make the college football playoff. In the new and expanded 12-team playoffs, the five highest-ranked conference champions get the first five seeds. For example, If Alabama finishes the year at No. 1 and wins the SEC, they will get the first overall seed. If the season were to end today, and Ohio State won the Big 10, they would get the second seed even though Texas is ranked higher than them because Texas is in the SEC with Alabama. Miami would be the third seed and ranked No. 8 because they are the leaders of the ACC, and then BYU as the leaders of the Big 2 would be seeded fourth has the No. 17 ranked team.
The seven next best teams, in this case, teams ranked No. 2, 4-7 and 9-10 would also make the playoffs as the 5-11 seeds. The final spot is reserved for the highest-ranked G5 champion. They would be seeded wherever they are ranked if they are inside the top 12, and if they are outside it, they would get the 12th seed. Boise State would get this spot as the leader of the Mountain West Conference ranked No. 21 at the time of writing this article.
Whether or not you think this new age of college football is “good” or “bad”, the first season has been interesting.