RENO - Tyler Lantrip never lost hope.
"There were a lot of ups and downs," the Nevada Wolf Pack quarterback said recently. "It was a long road. But I always knew there was light at the end of the tunnel when (Colin Kaepernick) left. But you never knew for sure."
He knows now.
Lantrip spent the last four years sitting, watching and learning behind arguably the greatest football player in school history, wondering if the day when his name would sit atop the depth chart at quarterback would ever come.
That day will come officially when the Wolf Pack goes to Eugene, Ore., to take on the Oregon Ducks on Sept. 10.
Finally.
"I'm excited," he said. "I've prepared so much for this. I'm more than ready."
Ready or not, it's Tyler Time.
"He won the job," head coach Chris Ault confirmed. "He had an outstanding spring."
The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder from Jesuit High in Roseville, Calif., has served a Nevada apprenticeship longer than any other starting quarterback in Wolf Pack history. He came to northern Nevada in 2007, the year Kaepernick emerged from the heavens to start his career as one of the more productive quarterbacks in NCAA history.
After sitting out that first year as a redshirt, Lantrip then spent the past three years on the sideline next to Ault watching Kaepernick paint masterpieces on the field.
"He was an amazing player," the understudy said of the leading man the past four years.
Lantrip, though, was more than merely just another Pack fans with his mouth wide open, standing in amazement as Kaepernick went wild on the field. He was watching, he was learning, he was working.
"It definitely took some time and it was definitely tough at first," said Lantrip, who was groomed as a pro style, dropback quarterback at Jesuit. "The big thing is that I had to learn how to be a running quarterback."
Lantrip will be the first to tell you that Kaepernick quarterback rushing records are safe. He's not going to explode down the sideline for many 60-yard touchdown runs, leaving linebackers and defensive backs in his wake face down in the Mackay Stadium Field Turf.
But he's not exactly going to be a statue on the field either.
"He can run with the ball," Ault said. "Our offense isn't going to change much."
As Ault said, Lantrip earned the starting job over redshirt freshman Cody Fajardo and sophomore Mason Magleby. No question. But he was also the safe choice.
He's spent four years learning Ault's ever-evolving pistol offense. He will turn 23-years-old on Sept. 28. He has been married to his wife Elaina for a year. He already has his bachelor's degree in finance and economics. In a few years, when he becomes a full-fledged financial planner, he'll be able to tell Kaepernick what to do with the millions of dollars the San Francisco 49ers will pay him.
Lantrip has played in 16 games in his Pack career. He has completed a pass against Notre Dame. He's completed 12-of-23 passes for 192 yards and one touchdown and he's run the ball 24 times for 90 yards and two scores.
When Kaepernick made his first start in a Pack uniform, he could barely tell you how to find the Reno Arch. Lantrip has been here so long he could run for mayor.
So, yes, he's more than ready. And Ault will tell you Lantrip was ready last year, too.
"Last year, if Kap would have gone down, I was confident our offense wouldn't lose much with Tyler," Ault said. "We still would have been able to move the ball and put points on the board."
Lantrip did exactly that late last October against Utah State. He came in for Kaepernick in the first half at Mackay Stadium and led the Pack to a pair of touchdowns in 11 plays.
"Coach Ault has shown confidence in me," Lantrip said.
Ault, to be sure, has show confidence in other quarterbacks in the past and didn't hesitate to yank them from the field. Confidence, as far as Ault is concerned, only is as strong as your last decision on the field.
"No, I won't be looking over my shoulder after every play," smiled Lantrip. "My job is to help this offense move the ball. As long as we're doing that I'll be all right. But I also know if I don't do that, I can be taken out of there. I'd get myself out of there if I wasn't moving the ball. That even happened to Kap a couple times."
Ault's watchful eye won't be Lantrip's biggest challenge this fall. His biggest challenge will be the legend that is Colin Kaepernick. Every time he runs the ball and a linebacker drags him down after a six-yard gain, he knows that half the crowd in attendance will be thinking to themselves, 'Well, Kap would have taken the one to the house.'"
He's not Kap. He knows it. Ault knows it. And he's not going to try to be.
"No, he wasn't perfect," Lantrip smiled again. "He made mistakes like everybody else."
Lantrip and Kaepernick seem to have a solid relationship. They'll text each other now and then even now.
"He'll text me, 'Hey, why didn't you just hit that hole and get into the end zone,'" Lantrip said. "I'll text him back, 'Why don't you hit that open guy down the middle.'"
Ault, it seems, is excited to exploit the differences between Lantrip and Kaepernick this season.
"We'll throw it a little bit more," Ault said. "Tyler is a very good passer."
Lantrip will likely be a bit more consistent through the air than Kaepernick. Tossing the ball downfield, after all, is what he was trained to do.
"We'll probably throw it more," Lantrip said. "I'm confident in my ability to throw the ball. But we probably would have thrown the ball this year more if Kap was still here. We've added things to this offense every year since I've been here.
"But this is still the same pistol offense. We're still going to be based on the run. We're not going to change that."
