Fresno State and quarterback Jake Haener will let numbers speak in pushing national profile

Fresno State is content to let the numbers speak when pushing its profile and that of quarterback Jake Haener.

Those numbers go well beyond the stat line in the Bulldogs’ 40-37 victory at No. 13 UCLA, when Haener completed 73.5% of his passes for 455 yards including a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Cropper with 14 seconds remaining.

During and in the hours after the game the Fresno State social media accounts were racking up likes, comments, retweets and whatnot at what very likely was an unprecedented rate for the school.

“From our main athletics accounts and the football accounts, Saturday and Sunday, there were a combined 6,698,552 total impressions,” said Frank Pucher, senior associate athletics director for external relations.

“There were 466,261 engagements, so roughly 466,000 times someone liked, commented or shared something related to us.”

On Twitter alone, the Fresno State football account picked up more than 1,100 new followers practically overnight.

Much of the attention is because of Haener, who after four games is ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in completion percentage, yards per attempt and yards per game, passing efficiency rating and touchdown passes. That puts him in the conversation for postseason awards. (The last Fresno State player to take home a national award was Derek Carr in 2013, when he won the Sammy Baugh Award.)

“Our numbers are speaking for themselves,” Pucher said. “The defining moment that was, on that stage, in that venue, against that opponent and with the way that it was done, was so representative of our community, our institution and this Valley. All of those factors combined have shined a bright light on Fresno State.

“But there’s still a lot of work to be done and our team understands that, our program understands that. Now is not the time to sit and celebrate, now is the time to go back to work.”

The Bulldogs and Haener did that Tuesday, preparing for their Mountain West Conference opener on Friday against UNLV on a short week and another opportunity to gain some national attention.

The game will be carried on the more-accessible CBS Sports Network, not the Pac-12 Network like the UCLA game. The Bulldogs are 3-1, the loss by seven points at No. 11 Oregon, and also are playing a struggling UNLV team that is ranked last in the Mountain West in passing defense and scoring defense.