How Mayor Jerry Dyer is honoring the Fresno State football team, quarterback Jake Haener

The Fresno State Bulldogs’ 40-37 victory over then-No. 13 UCLA at the Rose Bowl was big for the program, big for the city, big enough that Mayor Jerry Dyer delivered a proclamation at the end of practice on Tuesday honoring the Bulldogs and quarterback Jake Haener not just for a day but for an entire week.

“It’s Fresno State football and quarterback Jake Haener Week, I guess,” the Bulldogs quarterback said afterward.

“It’s the whole team, obviously. It’s not about me. I had no idea that was coming. At the end of the day it’s about everyone and what this team did as a program and how we were able to stick together and make it happen.”

But in that fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Saturday night, it was quite a bit about Haener. He had been sacked three times and taken some shots throughout the game, including one to the right hip and side that left him hobbling in the final minutes of the game and on the Bulldogs’ final drive.

“Right before the touchdown to (Erik) Brooks on third-and-goal it was really bothering me and it then kept kind of getting worse as the game continued on,” Haener said.

Fresno State won it there, taking possession at its 25-yard line down by four points and with just 54 seconds to go. As it turned out the Bulldogs needed only 40 of those seconds to score with Haener hitting five consecutive passes, three to wideout Jalen Cropper including the game-winner with 14 seconds to play.

On the final pass the Bulldogs caught UCLA in a blitz, picked up by running back Ronnie Rivers.

That was all outlined in the proclamation, which ended: “Now, therefore be it resolved that I, Mayor Jerry Dyer, do hereby proclaim the week of September 20th, 2021 to be: ‘Fresno State Bulldog Football and Quarterback Jake Haener Week” in the City of Fresno.”

It’s the first time Dyer, who has been a frequent visitor to Bulldogs practices and games this season, has honored a person or program for an entire week.