ESPN college football icon leads chorus of praise for Fresno State, Jake Haener
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, one of the biggest names in the business, is leading the chorus this week cheering on Fresno State.
Herbstreit named Fresno State his top performing team from Week 3 after the then-unranked Bulldogs went into the Rose Bowl and pulled out a 40-37 victory over then No. 13-UCLA Bruins.
He listed the Bulldogs over Penn State, Michigan State, Western Michigan, Cincinnati, West Virginia and San Diego State.
Herbstreit also listed Bulldogs quarterback Jake Haener his top performing player.
Who did he list Haener over? Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford, Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, USC quarterback Jaxson Dirt, North Carolina running back Josh Downs, Oklahoma cornerback D.J. Graham and Oklahoma State running back Jaylen Warren.
Haener gutted it out after suffering a right hip injury and hit Jalen Cropper for the game-winning 13-yard touchdown with 14 seconds remaining. Haener finished the game completing 39 of 53 for 455 yards and two touchdowns.
In the afterglow of the victory, the Bulldogs were the talk of social media.
The praise continued this week.
On Tuesday, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer proclaimed “Fresno State Bulldog Football and Quarterback Jake Haener Week” in the city of Fresno.
And the Football Writers Association named Fresno State the Cheez-It Bowl national team of the week.
The No. 22 Bulldogs (3-1) will face UNLV in a Mountain West opener at Bulldog Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published September 21, 2021 at 1:22 PM.
