'That’s my dude': Holy Cross quarterback Matthew Sluka focuses on senior season
WORCESTER — During Holy Cross’ historic 2022 season, quarterback Matthew Sluka’s amazing accomplishments included a 46-yard Hail Mary to Jalen Coker to beat the University of Buffalo, a five-touchdown performance in an epic win over Fordham, a career-high 213-yard rushing effort in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals at South Dakota State, and a catalog of other highlights in between.
One of the most impactful moments of the year for Sluka, however, happened in a subpar showing at Lafayette.
HC rallied to win in the fourth quarter on Sluka’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Justin Shorter on fourth-and-goal, but Sluka completed just 6 of 16 passes for 82 yards. He threw a bad interception, and he averaged 1.7 rushing yards on 15 carries.
“That was the game I struggled with the most,” Sluka said after Tuesday afternoon’s practice. “It was just the preparation going into it. I don’t know what I did differently, but I definitely realized I had to sit down and focus a lot more for the game plans. That was an eye-opening experience.”
A showdown against Fordham, with the top spot in the Patriot League standings on the line, loomed the following week.
“I sat down and really studied their defense,” Sluka said, “studied what was going on, got to know the playbook a little bit more, and made sure I was well prepared. Not that I wasn’t prepared for Lafayette, I just think I was way more prepared for Fordham and the things to come after.”
In the 53-52 overtime win against the Rams, Sluka completed 65% of his pass attempts for 291 yards and four TDs, and carried 21 times for 174 yards and another score.
“Just that step of understanding how to turn it from a bad game to a good game was a huge step for me,” Sluka said.
The Crusaders went on to capture their fourth straight Patriot League title, go 11-0 in the regular season for the first time since 1991, beat New Hampshire in the second round of the FCS playoffs, and finish the year with a No. 6 national ranking.
Ready for senior season
As Holy Cross pursues its unprecedented fifth consecutive Patriot League championship, Sluka, the 2023 preseason PL Offensive Player of the Year, is primed for a super senior season.
The Crusaders opened training camp Aug. 3.
In 2022, Sluka passed for 2,489 yards, rushed for a team-high 1,234 and accounted for 37 touchdowns. Over the last couple of seasons, HC coach Bob Chesney has praised Sluka, a dual threat who relied heavily on his running skills early in his career, for his development into a complete quarterback and team leader.
On Wednesday, his teammates voted Sluka a captain.
“To watch him grow,” Chesney said during Thursday’s media day at Fitton Field, “and you don’t want him to lose what makes him great — his emotion, his fierce competitiveness — but at the same point, being able to harness some of the impulsiveness, that is what he’s done a really nice job of. Being voted captain speaks volumes about what his teammates think of him.”
This offseason, Sluka focused a lot on throwing on the run, as well as timing with new receivers and fine-tuning with veterans like Coker and Shorter.
“When you look back on our freshman year,” said Coker, who is also a senior, “it was like catching the ball in certain areas. Now, it’s the nitty gritty of where to be and how fast I should be coming off the ball on a certain route, where he’s going to put the ball if I read a defense a certain way.
“That’s my dude,” Coker, HC’s leading receiver in 2022, said of Sluka, “and our relationship is just as strong as it was last season if not stronger. I always say, ‘My job is to catch it, and his job is to throw it,’ and I take pride to be able to do that.”
Paying close attention to detail
Following Tuesday’s practice, as usual, Sluka and first-year offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy, who was HC’s quarterbacks coach last season, stayed on the field to review the two-hour session. Kennedy later talked individually with HC’s backup quarterbacks.
“We go over key details,” Sluka said, “things he liked, things I need to work on, whether I’m bringing my teammates up. He’s trying to continue my growth as a person and a teammate, so overall, he’s just working on the total player I am. I’m really grateful for that.”
Kennedy, who joined the HC staff last season after working as an assistant quarterbacks coach at the University of Florida in 2021, has played a big role in Sluka’s development.
“He completely understood who I was as a player,” Sluka said, “and me learning him as a coach has definitely helped. In the meeting room, he’s doing some unbelievable stuff with teaching me football. Out here in practice, we get great workouts. He’s adapted my game to how I play rather than trying to change who I am, so it’s been really exciting.”
Holy Cross promoted Kennedy to replace Chris Smith as offensive coordinator. Smith departed after last season to take a position with the New York Giants.
Kennedy believes Sluka has taken his biggest strides in the film room.
“On the field, you show everything you have the ability to do,” Kennedy said, “but being able to grow in that aspect of watching film and then using everything we’ve learned in the film room and taking the next step of projecting that onto the field, I think that’s been the biggest leap (for Sluka).
“Matt is the ultimate competitor,” Kennedy said. “When you see how hard he works, how he competes on the field, and how the team rallies around him, it’s pretty special.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenTolandTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Holy Cross QB Matthew Sluka focuses on senior season success
