Fresno State QB Jake Haener had a phenomenal 2021 season. Here’s how he has improved
Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener threw for 4,096 yards and 33 touchdowns last season, averaging 8.4 yards per attempt, a number that surpassed even Derek Carr and his 7.7 in a record-obliterating senior year back in 2013.
At times it looked easy, but never was, which is why in part the Bulldogs quarterback started spring practices on Monday around 15 pounds heavier than he was when walking off the field after a win in the New Mexico Bowl.
It’s good weight, a byproduct of off-season workouts and a much more focused nutrition plan based on what to eat, when to eat it and more than 4,000 calories a day.
He’s around 207 pounds and in theory better equipped to handle the hits he absorbed last season, starting with some wicked shots when leading the Bulldogs to a last-minute touchdown in a 40-37 victory over UCLA at the Rose Bowl. Haener had difficulty picking himself up off the turf several times on that final drive, limping through a 5 of 5 for 75 yards finish that ended with a 13-yard touchdown throw to wideout Jalen Cropper with 14 seconds to go.
“I feel good,” Haener said, after the first of the Bulldogs’ 15 spring practices. “I feel stronger. I feel quicker. I’m carrying the weight fine. I think in the grand scheme it will protect me more and keep me healthier so I don’t have to go through some of the stuff that I went through last year.”
Haener came out of that victory over the Bruins with a strained oblique and a high hip pointer, which impacted him for weeks. He did not take any reps with the first offense on Tuesday the following week, when the Bulldogs were preparing to play UNLV. On Wednesday he took a few and on Thursday a few more, then went out and hit 71.4% of 42 passes for 378 yards and five touchdowns against the Rebels.
But it was still an issue playing at Hawaii following a bye week, and it was there he had a defensive lineman roll on his foot and ankle on a 20-yard pass play to wideout Keric Wheatfall in the third quarter.
Haener made it back onto the field and finished the game, but that only created more issues.
“You can’t feel the whole left side of your body and then you start getting banged up in the leg and can’t really push off on your right leg and you’ve got all this fluid on your right calf and have to get it drained,” Haener said.
Injuries piled up on Bulldogs quarterback
“It was kind of a compound thing. Hawaii, they rolled me up and I had a foot problem. I had a foot sprain, some ligament problems. San Diego State, my right calf just got destroyed. I had the fluid drained from my calf right before the Boise game and it was hard to move around. I had this huge shin guard, this huge gel pad on my leg.”
It was a struggle at times, though it did not show on the football field. Haener continued to play at a high level, becoming only the third quarterback in school history to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a season following Derek Carr in 2013 (5,083), David Carr in 2001 (4,839) and Derek Carr in 2012 (4,104).
And there was no drop in production, statistically. Haener hit 62.7% of his passes in the Bulldogs’ first four Mountain West games, 66.7% in the last four. He threw for 279.5 yards in the first four games, 307.0 in the last four. The Bulldogs put up 28.3 points in the first four games, 29.5 in the last four.
This spring, he will work with an offense that is undergoing some changes under new offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, which could make the Bulldogs more explosive than last season when they ranked first in the Mountain West Conference in total offense and second in points per game.
But that 10-win season, the return of Haener and dynamic playmakers including running back Jordan Mims and wideouts Cropper, Josh Kelly and Zane Pope is fueling high expectations.
“The expectation is a New Year’s Six bowl game and a Mountain West championship and I’m sure there are a bunch of other teams saying that across the county, but I think we definitely have the talent, the skill and the returning core players that are experienced now,” Haener said.
“They’re older and they’re ready to take the next step as a program. I think those are the expectations we set for us, but we say it every day. Potential does not equal success. We have to earn it, and we have to go after it.”
Fresno State spring practice key dates
March 24 – Pro Day
March 28 – First practice in full pads
April 10-16 – Spring break
April 30 – Spring preview
Fresno State 2022 schedule
Sept. 3 – Cal Poly
Sept. 10 – Oregon State
Sept. 17 – at USC
Sept. 24 – bye
Oct. 1 – at UConn
Oct. 8 – at Boise State
Oct. 15 – San Jose State
Oct. 22 – at New Mexico
Oct. 29 – San Diego State
Nov. 5 – Hawaii
Nov. 12 – at UNLV
Nov. 19 – at Nevada
Nov. 26 – Wyoming