QB David Cornwell, formerly of Alabama, leaves the Wolf Pack
Three days after making his Wolf Pack debut, quarterback David Cornwell left the Nevada football program.
Cornwell, the much ballyhooed Alabama transfer who was the first player to commit to first-year coach Jay Norvell last December, was not at Tuesday's practice. Nevada said late Tuesday night he was no longer on the team.
“David Cornwell has left the team and asked for his release from the program," Nevada spokesperson Chad Hartley said in a news release. "We appreciate his contributions and wish him the best moving forward. The team’s focus remains on preparing for the Mountain West conference opener this weekend.”
After a strong end to spring camp, which saw him complete 22-of-33 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns in one half in the spring game, Cornwell was the team's starting quarterback entering fall camp. But he was unable to retain that position for the season opener, with Ty Gangi starting the Wolf Pack's first two games.
True freshman Kaymen Cureton also passed Cornwell on the depth chart and started Nevada's two most recent games. Cornwell replaced Cureton after the first four series Saturday at Washington State and completed 13-of-25 passes for 97 yards and three interceptions.
“It was great. It was fun," Cornwell said after Saturday's game. "It was a really fun time to see what it’s like to be on the field and seeing your guys playing ball. It was a really great opportunity to come play a great Pac-12 team, No. 18 in the country, a solid team. Give all the credit to them. They did a great job. We didn’t play up to our ability. Sometimes we showed flashes and then sputtered out and that’s on the quarterback position, that’s one me.
“A few mistakes and it’s my first game knocking the rust off. It’s hard until you watch the film. I’m sure there’s good things, there’s bad things. I live by the code that it’s never as good as it seems and never as bad as it seems. You look at three picks, one in the red zone, obviously not a good performance on my part. Quarterback play is where we have to improve in my opinion. That’s on me, that’s on us quarterbacks as a room."
After the game, Cornwell said he was confident the team's offense, which has struggled this season, was close to turning the corner.
“One of these days it’s going to click," Cornwell said. "I remember in the spring, it was practice 10 and we clicked and looked a lot better. One of these days, we’re going to click as an offense and it’s going to be explosive.”
On Monday, Gangi was named the starter for this Saturday's MW opener at Fresno State, with Cureton backing him up, which left Cornwell third on the depth chart.
It was a quick exit for Cornwell, a four-star recruit and All-American out of high school who had Nevada fans salivating at his potential. The 6-foot-5, strong-armed quarterback initially signed with Alabama, enrolling at the school early, but he was never able to win the starting job. Cornwell appeared in two games but never attempted a pass for the Crimson Tide. He fell to fourth on the depth chart last season and was one of three quarterbacks to transfer out of Alabama in 2016.
Cornwell was expected to win Nevada's starting job as soon as he committed to the Wolf Pack shortly after Norvell was hired and opted to install the pass-first Air Raid system.
"He sold me on a dream," Cornwell said during Nevada media day of the pitch from Norvell. "I knew I was coming here even before I took my trip."
Entering fall camp, Cornwell was promoted on the Wolf Pack's media guide, poster schedule, on signage at Mackay Stadium and in Facebook ads. But he was unable to hold off Gangi or Cureton, both of whom have had their share of struggles this season, which left many Wolf Pack fans pining for Cornwell.
Norvell said earlier this month Cornwell wasn't playing because the team had evaluated its quarterbacks and the coaches were playing the guys who should be on the field.
“He’s working,” Norvell said two weeks ago. “He’s frustrated, but he’s working. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do for the most part every day and trying to get better, and we’re trying to help him get better. That’s one of the reasons he came here. We want to help him be the best player he can be. That’s what we’re working toward.”
The Wolf Pack (0-4) ranks 112th in the nation at 19.8 points per game and has yet to score more than 28 points in a game this season. Nevada ranks 115th in passing efficiency out of 129 FBS teams.
Cornwell, a junior, was able to play immediately this season because he was a graduate transfer after earning an undergraduate degree from Alabama. He could transfer to an FCS school and play immediately, but would have to sit out a season under NCAA transfer rules if he moved on to another FBS program.
In addition to Gangi and Cureton, the Wolf Pack has two more quarterbacks on its roster in Griffin Dahn, a sophomore junior-college transfer who has played one snap this season, and sophomore Cristian Solano, who is in his third year in the program.
QB David Cornwell, formerly of Alabama, leaves the Wolf Pack
