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After Matthew Sluka announced that he would no longer be on the UNLV football team, the McCoys’ 1965 hit, “Hang On Sloopy,” kept playing in my head.  Sluka left the team because he had not been paid $100,000 in a verbal NIL agreement with a UNLV assistant coach.  The Odyssey notes that this is Sluka’s version of the story.  While we have no reason to doubt his version, we believed that leaving UNLV was not in the QB’s best interests.

Sluka bailed after 4 games so he could preserve his “redshirt” year.  Since Sluka had previously starred in his previous 4-year stint at FCS Holy Cross, this is not somebody with multiple remaining years of eligibility.  In 2025, who will pay Sluka for a 1-year gig after he bailed on the unbeaten Rebels in 2024?

The Odyssey felt Sluka’s best interest was to stay the course in Las Vegas, especially since this edition of the UNLV Rebels holds so much promise.  WIth 2 Power 4 scalps already in hand (Houston and Kansas), UNLV has a real chance to claim the Group of 5 slot in the upcoming 12-team playoff.

But Sluke chose not to hang on.  ESPN luminary Rece Davis felt the same way as the Odyssey about Sluka’s abrupt exit.

Sluka bailed before yesterday’s pivotal Moutain West game against Fresno State.   The football gods laughed uproariously!  Sluka was not missed at all.  His replacement, Campbell transfer Hajj-Malik Williams, actually proved to be a very competent passer against Fresno State.  Sluka, while an extremely adept runner, was not Dan Marino in the passing game as had been completing less than half of his passes.  This morning, UNLV fans are collectively saying to Sluka, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, sucker!”

The Odyssey is extra happy for UNLV because this is the 2nd surprise bailout by a starting UNLV QB in 2024.  In 2023,  the Rebel QB was Jaden Maiava.  He threw for 3,000+ yards and was honored as 2nd team Mountain West QB and league Freshman of the Year.  Maiava bailed for greener pastures (and probably some green) at USC.  OOPS!  Maiava is now catching pine time at the Coliseum behind stud QB Miller Moss.  Sluka should have called Maiava before making his fateful decision.  The grass is not always greener elsewhere.  Sluka chose not to hang on.

In January, Washington was riding a 21-game winning streak, which included a playoff win over Texas.

THEN, UW lost 34-13 in the Natty tilt.  They lost their brilliant head coach Kalen DeBoer to the Crimson Tide and virtually their entire 2023 team as only 6 starters returned.

Their 3-2 start is deceptive.  The Huskies probably should be 5-0.  A horrid play call at the Washington State 1 yard line (a QB run to the short side of the field by a non-runningQB) was pivotal.  On Friday, an inexplicable penalty and 3 missed field goals spelled doom in their 21-18 loss to Rutgers.

Their remaining schedule is a horror show:

Michigan

@ Iowa

@ Indiana

USC

@ Penn State

UCLA

@ Oregon

OUCH!  The Huskies now rate to be dogs in all but the UCLA game.  For those bettors who grabbed the Under 7.5 win total, congrats.  A 4-8 or 5-7 season looms.

Hello, Jake Dickert!

Against all odds, Washington State is coming off back-to-back absolute thrillers smelling like a rose.

How did the Cougars survive?

In the Apple Cup, WSU is clinging to a 24-19 lead in the waning moments.  However, those dreaded Huskes are knocking at the door, with 4th and goal from the Cougar 1.  4th and the season for Washington State!  Inexplicably, UW, with a non-running QB, elects to run an option to the SHORT side of the field..  Stuffed!  Cougar ecstasy!

After the game, Washington coach, Jedd Fisch, manned up and confessed that his play call was a bad one.

Six days later, San Jose State pays a visit to the Palouse.  Two surprises.  San Jose State has a much better team than anybody anticipated.  WSU fans did not expect to look at the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter and see SJSU winning by 38-24. If that was surprising, the 54 passes thrown by Cougar transfer, Emmett Brown, was shocking.  The new coach for the Spartans was none other than Ken Niumatalolo.  The same Niumatalolo who was the all-time winningest coach at Navy.  The Navy team that ran the ball, ran the ball more and kept running the ball.  54 heaves is as stunning as if Dolly Parton sang at a concert in a baggy, burlap dress.

WSU proceeded to rally behind their swashbucking QB, John Mateer, and forced overtime.  San Jose State immediately regrets one of their 54 passes, as WSU picks off an errant Brown pass.  The norm:  WSU would make a series of conservative play calls with a game-winning field goal attempt in its back pocket.

Such strategy makes even more sense because Mateer is a first-year starter who can be streaky:  a poor man’s Brett Favre, so to speak.  So, what does Washington State do?  Mateer passes and gets picked off.  Coaching malpractice of such a magnitude that easily trumped Fisch’s awful play call in Seattle in the Apple Cup.

Dickert gets off the hook when SJSU’s two-point conversion in the second overtime fails.

The Odyssey hopes that Dickert has not exhausted all his luck.  Because the most challenging game on their schedule occurs this Saturday when they make a short trip to Boise.  The Cougars are 7.5 point dogs to the explosive Broncos.  If WSU can figure out a way to pull off the upset, the Palouse will go nuts because the possibility of an undefeated season would have the locals jumping up and down.

Our reaction after watching Oregon State’s 21-0 win at San Diego State  two Saturdays ago was that neither team looked so hot.  Last week proved Confirmation Saturday!

Oregon State was inept on both sides of the ball in their epic 49-14 fail in the Civil War.  Potential salvation: Purdue, fresh off a program worst 66-7 thrashing by Notre Dame, pays a visit.

SDSU was humbled by a feisty Cal team.  We see no salvation for the Aztecs.  New coach and purported offensive guru, Sean Lewis, must have done some bad deeds earlier in his life.  For he is now being punished to have to watch the San Diego State offense.  Truly offensive!

Let’s hope that the next team these two teams meet as Pac-6 conference members, arrows will be pointing up.

Imagine that you made a wager that the total points scored in last Thursday’s South Alabama – Northwestern State game. would exceed 59.  Great contentment as the halftime score is 52-10 in favor of USA.  A total winner by halftime!  Until it wasn’t.  When South Alabama ran up the score to 87-10, the coaches agreed to not play the game’s final 9 minutes.

Uh oh!  Betting services have a general rule that a game must be played for at least 55 minutes for there to be action.  It seems beyond cruel for this ticket not to cash.  Believe it or not, USA had 6 touchdowns called back due to penalties.

This stoppage brought back memories of a Wisconsin visit to UNLV in 2002 for a night game.  With 7:41 to go, the electricity went out.  The coaches agreed to call it a night.  Whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.  Conspiracy theorists had a field day with the outage but no villanous plot was ever uncovered.

Bettors are used to bad beats.  But for this wager not to cash takes bad luck to a new plateau.

Butch Jones returned to his native state as his Arkansas State squad paid a visit to the Big House.  Twice, with 4th and 1 in the first half relatively deep in Michigan territory, he opted for a field goal attempt.

When one is a 22-point underdog, it is difficult to imagine that the road to an upset is paved by field goals.  Maybe Jones was enamored because he had a stellar field goal kicker.  OOPS!  Past tense.  He had a stellar field goal kicker, Dominic Zvada, in 2023.  Perhaps Jones had a brain cramp.  No doubt Zvada was in the Big House but he was sporting a Maize & Blue uniform.  That damn transfer portal struck again!

Perhaps fittingly, Arkansas State’s first field goal attempt doinked off the goal post.  The Red Wolves wound up 1 for 3 on field goal attempts in the first half.  Why would Jones, the Prince of Platitudes, play it so safe?  Was his long game a respectable loss?  Would he have viewed it as a triumph if Arkansas State covered the spread?

One would think that a Michigan native such as Jones would be encouraged to roll the dice in an effort to pull off a major upset.  After all, Michigan looked very ordianary against Texas.  No dice for Jones.  However, he could at least be satisfied that his squad did cover the spread in backdoor fashion as the Red Wolves scored 2 late TD’s.

The name of Louisiana Monroe coach Bryant Vincent resonates with very few. After a 2-10 mark in 2023, the Warhawks let go of Terry Bowden after 3 years and hired Vincent.

Vincent was the interim coach at Alabama Brimingham (UAB) in 2022 after the surprising departure of Bill Clark. A 6-6 mark was not impressive enough to erase the interim tag despite a petition from the players to permanently hire Vincent.

2023 found Vincent in football purgatory as he was the Offensive Coordinator at New Mexico. When has New Mexico ever had a good offense?

Cynics will say that ULM’s hire of Vincent was purgatory continuation. Not only is ULM among the most under financed programs with a tepid fan base, the War Hawks had only 7 returning starters.

Last Saturday, fate had a major chuckle when UAB traveled to Monroe. Eschewing Vincent, UAB made an “out of the box” hire of Trent Dilfer. Dilfer’s big coaching chops were 2 state championships at Lipscomb Academy.  Dilfer has been a dud.  Last year’s record was 4-8.  The former Super Bowl winning QB has yet to win a road game.

Imagine how wonderful Vincent felt after ULM rose from the ashes and smashed UAB 32-6, thanks in part to 3 UAB turnovers.  ULM dominated both lines of scrimmage.   ULM’s roster includes a dozen former Blazers.  The Tymes’ 1963 hit, “Wonderful, Wonderful” should have boomed in the victors’ locker room. Ample evidence that UAB hired the wrong guy.

The Odyssey has a big smile when thinking of Bryant Vincent. Saturday night must have put him on Cloud 9.

Saturday night set up as an exciting night in San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium:  A warm night, a beautiful stadium and a Pac-2 opponent in Oregon State.  Instead, the Buckinghams’ Top 10 hit, “Kind Of A Drag” described the night perfectly for the locals.

Oregon State’s  21-0 victory was drab.  Defensive contests can reflect two quality teams but this game offered no such flavor.  The Beavers scored a TD in the game’s first minutes.  Nothing happened until midway in the 3rd quarter.  Aztec QB, Danny O’Neil, stretched his body at the goal line in an attempt to score.  Fumble, recovered by the Beavers.

Oregon State tacked on 2 fourth quarter TD’s as they finsihed with 237 rushing yards.  Even if Oregon State had not tacked on insurance TDs, the Beavers were not in serious danger as the anemic SDSU offense gained a paltry 179 yards in the game.  Sean Lewis was hired as the Aztec coach in part because of his offensive background.  Regretably, “Aztec Fast” morphed into “San Diego Slow.”

In the third year of Snapdragon, San DIego State has muffed its chances to capture momentum and hometown imagination.  Its 3 home games against the Pac-12(2) have all resulted in resounding defeats.

The Odyssey hopes that Oregon State fares well in its coming tilt against Oregon but the Beavers gave little indication that this revenge-fueled rivalry will result in Beaver happiness.

Oregon State travels to San Diego State’s beautiful stadium for a Saturday night tilt.  Oregon State and Washington State will probably never fully recover from the demise of the Pac 12.  The pain for Oregon State may even be greater than for Wazzu when their head coach and favorite son, Jonathan Smith, took the Big 10 money and bailed out to East Lansing.

Trying best to pick up the pieces, both Oregon State and Washington State will play 6 Mountain West teams in to fill out their 2024 dance cards.  In an interesting recent development, this scheduling alliance will not be renewed for 2025.  How much worse can it get for the 2 orphans when the Mountain West says, “see ya?”  Last fall, the Odyssey came up with a creative proposal that would have benefited both the orphans and the Mountain West.  Six Mountain West squads would become members of a revamped Pac 8.  The leftovers would remain in the Mountain West that would need to add 2 new members (New Mexico State, UTEP, the Montana schools or a pair of Dakota schools would make geographic sense).  To make this arrangement palatable to the leftovers in the Mountain West, an annual promotion/relegation feature would be included.  Voila!  Such reconfiguration would be a Win Win.  Now if the powers that be would just be wise enough and creative enough to make this happen.

San DIego State’s pain is less but still apparent.  SDSU has been wanting to join a power conference for at least a decade.  In mid-2022, the Pac 12 was taking a long look at the Aztecs.  However, the Mountain West was firm on a 30+ million exit fee.  Shortly thereafter, USC and UCLA dropped their Big 10 bombshell.

In the long-term, we expect SDSU to prosper more than Oregon State.  In addition to a more fertile recruiting base, the allure of both San Diego and Snapdragon Stadium make SDSU one of the potential jewels of the Group of 5.  As a bonus, the Aztecs caught a break when they were able to hire Sean Lewis.  Lewis was an offensive savant at Kent State, who got sideways with Prime TIme in his very bried stint as Colorado’s offensive coordinator.

The outcome of tomorrow’s game is hard to predict.  As is typical in the NIL, insta-transfer era, new coaching staffs usually are catalysts for large roster turnover.  Oregon State is favored by 5 points.  Given the massive improvement of SDSU freshman QB, Danny O’Neil, from first half to second half of last season’s opener, the Odyssey believes the home underdog may well surprise.

The Odyssey was in the house in Morgantown on Saturday.  Very geeked up for a visit from Penn State.  The line had gradually decreased from 10.5 points to 7 points in favor of the Nittany Lions.  We were incredibly impressed by the West Virginia band.  How precise the band members have to be to replicate the state’s crazy-quilt state boundaries (which look like they were drawn up by somebody on a bad LSD trip).  How many states have state boundaries where the extreme northern part of the state looks like they are giving the finger to the rest of the world?

A rabid sellout was primed for an upset.  Passions cooled after the Nittany Lions scored 2 second quarter touchdowns to take a 13-0 lead.

Three elements doomed the Mountaineers.  Down 13-3 in the final minute of the first half, but driving in Penn State territory after converting a 4th and 1, West Virginia had to settle for a field goal.  Still, a 13-6 halftime deficit at home felt manageable – until it wasn’t.

Penn State stormed down the field to score a critical TD:  Halftime score: 20-6 for the visitors.

The third dagger:  Mother nature kicked in with occasional thunder.  Erring on the side of caution (too much, the Odyssey thinks), the game was halted for over 2 hours.  Many fans did not feel like being crammed like sardines into the concourses and left….never to return.  When the game resumed, the stands might have been 1/3 full.  Gone was the considerable home field advantage enjoyed by the Mountaineers.

After the resumption, Penn State QB, Drew Allar, kept quieting his critics.  He successfully scrambled for 2 first downs on 3rd and longs.  When the Nittany Lions scored to run the tally to 27-6, the game was functionally over.

WVU was not going to be able to surmount a 3-TD deficit against a quality defense and indifferent QB play from Garrett Greene.   Going into the game, Greene was coming off a better 2023 than the highly recruited Allar.  However, 2 successive drives by the Mountaineers were destroyed by mishandled shotgun snaps.  Greene’s throwing accuracy was also an issue.  Meanwhile, Allar played a terrific game, picking apart the WVU secondary in the first half.

Penn State looked terrific and should be formidable in 2024.  They get the Buckeyes’ $20 million dollar team at home in early November.  Better, neither Michigan or Oregon is on the schedule.

As for West Virginia, this experienced squad should be able to regroup.  In a balanced Big 12, who knows?