Arizona Bowl: Nevada QB Ty Gangi goes from underdog to top dog for Wolf Pack

Yet here Gangi stands, as the Wolf Pack’s starter and co-MVP, about to lead Nevada against Arkansas State in the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl. It’s a satisfying end to Gangi’s college career, which took detours through Boulder, Colorado, and Ventura, California, before Reno became the place he could establish himself. Eventually, anyway.

“For some reason, his journey has been a difficult one,” Gangi’s father, Frank, told the Star in a recent phone interview. “But I think at the end of the day, it’s the best one for him. It’s given him a lot of qualities — perseverance and grit. I think he also appreciates it more, getting the opportunity to finally show what he can do.”

A fifth-year senior from Glendale, California, Ty Gangi enters Saturday’s Arizona Bowl having thrown a touchdown pass in 26 consecutive games. He threw for a career-high 3,131 yards during the regular season and accounted for 26 touchdowns.

It seems silly now that anyone else ever was under consideration for the starting job. But such is Gangi’s lot. He has had to prove himself again and again.

“I’ve been overlooked and underestimated everywhere I’ve been,” Gangi said. “It’s prepared me. It’ll prepare me for the rest of my life — just always having that mindset of an underdog … of working for everything that you get.”

Serious from the start

As a youth, Gangi had to beg his parents to let him play tackle football. They finally relented when he was in fourth grade, and he immediately was installed as a quarterback for the La Canada Gladiators.

A coach remarked to Gangi’s parents that Ty had unusually advanced leadership skills. Frank and his wife, Kathy, found that interesting given that Ty was the third of their four children. “He was just kind of in the mix,” Frank said, laughing.

But Ty always took sports seriously. Frank’s father once noted that when Ty wasn’t in the game, his toes abutted the sideline. While others might banter with their friends, Ty paid close attention to the action on the field.

“He was never one of those kids that would be messing around at practice,” Frank Gangi said. “He always wanted to improve and do the best he could at all times.”

Ty aspired to play in the Pac-12. His grandfather, Jim Brown, was an All-America offensive lineman for UCLA in the 1950s. His uncle, Kevin Brown, played quarterback for Cal in the ’80s.

No such offers came Gangi’s way. It might have been because he started only one year at St. Francis High School in La Canada. A transfer from Vermont, Jared Lebowitz, started ahead of Gangi in 2011 and ’12 and earned a scholarship at UNLV.

By the time Gangi got to play as a senior, most big-time programs had their future quarterbacks lined up. Never mind that Gangi accounted for 3,311 yards of offense and 38 touchdowns and led St. Francis to a 10-3 record — up from 4-7 the previous year.

Gangi did have one Pac-12 opportunity, as a preferred walk-on at Colorado. But his experience in Boulder ended in frustration. Despite performing well in practices — and earning the responsibility of signaling in the plays, a rarity for a freshman — Gangi struggled to move up the depth chart.

“They were invested in the other kids,” Frank Gangi said, noting how difficult it can be for walk-ons to surpass scholarship players. “Ty decided, ‘I need to get somebody to invest in me, so I have a fair chance to compete.’ ”

Ty becomes The Guy

Gangi wanted a Division I scholarship, and he went to junior college to try to get one. He transferred to Ventura College, about an hour west of his hometown, where he would play for Steve Mooshagian, one of the best JC coaches on the West Coast.

But not immediately. Gangi didn’t become the starter until Week 5. In that game, he passed for a then-school-record 452 yards and five touchdowns as Ventura snapped a two-game losing streak.

The Pirates won six of their final seven games. Gangi passed for 2,288 yards with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Gangi earned his scholarship. Nevada wasn’t a Pac-12 school, but the Wolf Pack played in Division I.

Of course, Gangi didn’t start right away. He ran a package of plays behind senior Tyler Stewart, who held the job until he suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter of the eighth game against Wyoming. Gangi entered in relief and became the first Nevada quarterback in two seasons to throw for more than 300 yards in a game.

“He was well-prepared,” Nevada senior linebacker Malik Reed recalled. “He came out and played with confidence and gave us a chance to win. From that moment on, I knew that Ty was going to be our guy.”

Gangi started the rest of the way and entered 2017 as the presumptive favorite. But Nevada changed coaches after the ’16 season, firing Brian Polian and hiring Jay Norvell. In January of ’17, the Wolf Pack landed grad transfer David Cornwell, a former four-star recruit who spent his first three seasons at Alabama.

Whenever coaching changes happen, returning players have to prove their worth to the new staff. Gangi immediately became the underdog in the QB race — a role he was used to, unfortunately.

By that time, though, Gangi had learned not to worry about things he couldn’t control. Instead, he focused on pushing himself to get better every day.

To Norvell’s credit, he didn’t play favorites. Three quarterbacks played in the first five games — all Nevada losses — including Gangi. In the end, the best man won the job.

“I had times as a player where coaches didn’t think I was a starter or I couldn’t play,” Norvell told the Reno Gazette Journal. “It’s a challenge when that happens, and if you respond the right way over time, the cream rises to the top. That’s what happened with Ty. He just kept working; he just kept competing.”

‘He only cares about winning’

Gangi passed for more than 400 yards in Week 7 against Colorado State, becoming the first Wolf Pack quarterback to do so since Colin Kaepernick in 2007. Gangi did it again a little over a month later against San Diego State.

His father complimented him afterward. Gangi didn’t want to hear it. Both games were losses.

“What difference does that make?” Ty told Frank. “If we had won, it would have been OK.”

“He only cares about winning,” Frank Gangi said. “This year, even though they’re not throwing as much, he was much happier because the team was successful.”

Nevada went 3-9 in Norvell’s first season. The Wolf Pack started 3-4 this year before winning four of its last five games to earn the school’s first bowl berth since 2015, when Ty Gangi was in junior college trying to prove he belonged.

He never really stopped.

“Our business is construction,” said Frank Gangi, whose family has run Gangi Development for more than 70 years. “I always felt the blue-collar work ethic serves the players the best. They appreciate it more when they finally get their opportunity. And they’re more respected among their peers.”

Joining the family business is among the fallback options for Ty Gangi, who plans to pursue a pro football career first. He isn’t projected to be drafted. Then again, he wasn’t supposed to make it this far.

“I want to play as long as I can,” Gangi said. “Give it a shot, and give it everything I have.”