I posted this elsewhere but felt the need to make it's own post as well. This should be a familiar name for those who have followed the speculative portal threads the past two offseasons. Here's some info on
Matthew Sluka. Gotta wonder if RU makes a push for him. Sluka might be the best QB in the FCS. I've written about him for two off-seasons now. Here's what I said in October of last year...
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Matthew Sluka (JR, Holy Cross):
Sluka is listed at 6-3, 215 lbs and would have 2 years of eligibility remaining after this season. He hails from Long Island (Locust Valley, N.Y. and went to Kellenberg Memorial HS) and spent a post-grad year at the Peddie School. Sluka had a perfect record his final 2 years as a HS QB and while at Peddie (3 straight seasons as a starting QB without a loss). Sluka has a PFF grade of 92.2 and is PFF's #2 overall QB (out of 294 qualifying QBs). His previous 2 seasons he put up PFF grades of 84.7 (2021) and 73.1 (2020).
He's currently in his 3rd season as Holy Cross' starting QB (started as a true freshman during the shorted COVID year) and in his career has put up 206/358 (58%) for 2,875 yards 24 TDs and 7 INTs through the air and 1,454 rushing yards on 286 carries (5.1 ypc) and 23 TDs on the ground in 22 career starts. He’s gone 18-4 as a starting QB in college.
He’s off to his best season of his career in 2022 (69/115 for 1,176 yards passing 11 TDs/1 INT through the air, 352 yards and 5 TDs on the ground through 5 games) while leading Holy Cross to a 5-0 record.
This kid would fit Gleeson’s offense perfectly.
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Here's an update on Sluka for 2023. He's led his team to a 7-4 record on the season, while missing 2 games with an injury. Holy Cross has lost two games to FBS opponents by 3 points each (BC and Army).
He's continued his incredible production, both from a PFF grading standpoint and from a statistical standpoint. He's got a career high PFF grade of 92.0 this season putting him at the 4th overall QB out of 310 qualifiers...
Year | Grade | Overall |
2023 | 92.0 | 4th (out of 310 qualifiers) |
2022 | 91.6 | 8th (out of 308 qualifiers) |
2021 | 84.7 | 46th (out of 294 qualifiers) |
From a statistical standpoint, Sluka is a true dual threat. Here are his stats as a starter at Holy Cross:
Passing
Year | Passing Yards | TD/INT | Completion % |
2023 (11 games) | 1,728 | 20/5 | 122/197 (61.9%) |
2022 (13 games) | 2,489 | 26/4 | 153/266 (57.5%) |
2021 (13 games) | 1,512 | 11/5 | 117/208 (56.3%) |
Rushing
Year | Rushing Yards | TDs | YPC |
2023 | 1,247 | 9 | 6.7 |
2022 | 1,234 | 11 | 6.1 |
2021 | 868 | 14 | 5.2 |
Here's an additional highlight tape I was able to find:
In games against FBS competition in his career he's put up the following statlines...
2023 @ Army (Loss 17-14): 16/23 (69.6%) passing for 156 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. 37 rushes for 171 rushing yards
2023 @ Boston College (Loss 31-28): 10/15 passing (66.7%) for 130 yards, 0 TDs and 0 INTs. 19 rushes for 131 rushing yards and 2 TDs
2022 @ Buffalo (Win 37-31): 13/21 passing (61.9%) for 238 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs. 25 rushes for 146 yards and 0 TDs
2021 @ UConn (Win 38-28): 9/16 passing (56.3%) for 123 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. 14 rushes for 112 yards and 1 TD.
Dude can play at the P5 level. If we decide to target a QB in the portal it should be this kid...