A New Road to the Same Goal for UNLV Quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams
Hajj-Malik Williams set the standard in his time at Campbell. With his sudden emergence into the spotlight at UNLV, he'll try to do it again on a different stage.
A year ago when interviewing Hajj-Malik Williams for a feature story at FloFootball, I didn’t imagine the then-Campbell quarterback would one day be at the center of the college football universe.
That’s not a slight against Williams, a solid playmaker whose time at Campbell set the standard for quarterbacks following him in the fledgling program. It’s more so that the FCS exists in its own corner largely independent of the noise that surrounds big-time FBS programs.
Really, that’s something I appreciate about covering the FCS. Being free from much of the drama that looms over the FBS game makes focusing simply on ball easier. And thus, there’s an added layer of irony in drama playing a key part in Williams’ sudden ascent into the spotlight.
Another FCS transfer, former Holy Cross quarterback Matt Sluka, announcing his sudden resignation from the UNLV football team via social-media graphic provided fodder for the Takes Economy.
I’ll avoid editorializing about Sluka’s decision on the grounds that I lack the details to make an informed opinion. Now, that never stopped plenty others with platforms considerably more prominent than mine, and as a result, the quarterback position at UNLV gained more attention than at any time since Randall Cunningham left for the NFL.
With more eyes on him that at any time in his tenure at Campbell, Williams delivered one of the most impressive individual performances of the 2024 season: 13-of-16 passing for 182 yards with three touchdowns, 119 yards rushing and a fourth score on the ground.
Hajj-Malik Williams had plenty of good games at Campbell. None were this good. Similarly, none were this consequential.
In leading a 59-14 rout of Fresno State, Williams established UNLV as an unequivocal front-runner in the Mountain West Conference title chase. The Rebels may well break into the Top 25 for the first time in program history. A power-conference opponent, Syracuse, visits Allegiant Stadium on Friday when UNLV will have the stage mostly to itself.
Conference road trips to Utah State and Oregon State follow. Neither game should be overlooked, but it’s hard not to fixate on the prospect of an Oct. 25 clash with Boise State in Las Vegas; two teams vying for the inside track on the College Football Playoff bid, Ashton Jeanty perhaps pursuing the Heisman, all on a Friday night in Vegas?
Of course, looking ahead a month into the football season is a fool’s errand. Hell, less than a week ago, Hajj-Malik Williams was still Matt Sluka’s back-up after all. If there’s a theme to Williams’ story to this point, it’s that the narrative has more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film (that’s still a timely reference, right?).
Consider that less than a year ago, Williams was still in Buies Creek, North Carolina — perhaps the most diametrically opposite city to Las Vegas anywhere on the continent — finishing up with a 4-4 mark in the Coastal Athletic Association. It was a respectable debut mark for Campbell in its first season in what’s consistently among the best FCS conferences. But that was a long way away from the College Football Playoff.
And yet, for as disparate as Williams’ situation in 2024 may be from 2023, he’s in position to achieve the same goal he expressed to me a year ago. Williams said he “want[ed] to leave a legacy” with his Campbell teammates, elevating the expectations in a program that only a decade earlier didn’t offer scholarships.
He still has the opportunity to leave a legacy of unprecedented significance.