Fresno State beats Cal Poly as strong home crowd braves heatwave. Haener throws 2 TDs

THE LATEST: Analysis by Robert Kuwada

Fresno State got off to a fast start, scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions. Quarterback Jake Haener hit 35 of 41 passes for 370 yards, including touchdowns to running back Jordan Mims and tight end Raymond Pauwels Jr.

But a rough stretch for the Bulldogs’ offense and defense in the second and start of the third quarters left the home team open to questions in a 35-7 victory on Thursday over FCS Cal Poly at Valley Children’s Stadium.

After scoring those three touchdowns, the Bulldogs’ next four series went punt, punt, missed field goal and punt. This, against a defense that last season ranked 12th in the Big Sky Conference in total defense.

Cal Poly (0-1) also whiffed on three drives deep into Fresno State territory, failing to convert a 4th-and-5 from the Bulldogs’ 8-yard line in the second quarter, a 4th-and-4 from the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line in the third quarter and a 4th-and-1 from the 1 in the fourth quarter.

Attendance

Fresno State officials not all that long ago were concerned about ticket sales for the opener, looking at a crowd in the low 30,000 range.

The announced attendance turned out to be 36,011 — the largest opening crowd for the Bulldogs since 2017 when Derek Carr had his jersey retired. There were 39,447 in attendance for that game, a 66-9 victory over Incarnate Word.

Thursday’s crowd also sweltered through an opening kickoff temperature of 102 degrees.

A look back at the highlights as they happened:

Haener’s second TD extends lead

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener hit tight end Raymond Pauwels Jr. with a 8-yard touchdown pass to cap a 95-yard drive and extend the Bulldogs lead to 35-7 with 12:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Haener is now 35 of 41 for 370 yards and two touchdowns. The Bulldogs have rolled up 485 total yards, averaging 7.1 yards per play.

What could have been

The Bulldogs just dodged a Cal Poly score, for the second time. The Mustangs had a 70-yard, 16-play drive working, but got stuck on a 4th-and-4 at the Fresno State 5-yard line.

A pass play went awry, and the Bulldogs have possession.

Cal Poly has 253 yards of total offense in the third quarter. A year ago, they had 274 in a 63-10 loss.

Mims third TD has ‘Dogs up 28-7

Fresno State managed to put a drive together, on a short field following a Cal Poly punt. The Bulldogs went 34 yards on three plays, taking a 28-7 lead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Jake Haener to Jordan Mims.

It was Mims’ third TD of the game - he scored earlier on runs of 1 and 1 yards.

Haener is now 28 of 33 for 326 yards with one touchdown.

Sacking Haener

Cal Poly had three sacks in the first half and this is not an area the Mustangs excelled last season. They were ranked 11th of 13 in the Big Sky Conference.

Fresno State allowed more than three sacks in a game only twice last season, with four in a loss at Oregon and five in a loss to Boise State at Bulldog Stadium.

Faltering offense

Fresno State had to punt the football away on its opening possession in the second half. The Bulldogs’ past four drives have gone punt, punt, missed field goal, punt.

That last series, seven plays and 24 yards.

Where the ball is going

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener is 22 of 26 for 281 yards at halftime. Here are the targets and receiving stats:

Remigio: 7, 6 for 79

Moreno-Cropper: 5, 4 for 48

Kelly: 3 for 39

Brooks: 2, 2 for 37

Pope: 2, 2 for 34

Mims: 3, 2 for 11

Jones: 1, 1 for 21

Pauwels: 2, 1 for 6

Boust: 1, 1 for 6

Whiffed, again

Fresno State put some semblance of a drive together after Cal Poly failed on a 4th-and-5 from the Bulldogs’ 8-yard line, but missed a 40-yard field goal attemt to end the half.

At the break, it’s Fresno State 21-7.

Hit the brakes

Fresno State after scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions has not punted at the end of two drives in a row, going three plays for minus-9 yards and four plays for 16 yards.

About that run game

Cal Poly is averaging 5.3 yards on nine rushing plays. Fresno State is averaging 4.8 yards on 10 plays.

The Bulldogs’ past five games against FCS rushing offenses:

Cal Poly in 2021: 53 yards, 1.5 ypp

Sacramento State in 2019: 12 yards, 0.7 ypp

Idaho in 2018: 102 yards, 3.1 ypp

Incarnate Word in 2017: minus-30 yards, minus-1.1 ypp

Sacramento State in 2016: 96 yards, 2.9 ypp

More on that first quarter

Fresno State scored more than once in the first quarter only once last season. That was in the New Mexico Bowl victory over Texas-El Paso, scoring on a run by Jordan Mims and field goal by Cesar Silva.

Mustangs have an answer

Cal Poly broke up the shutout, scoring on a 9-yard pass from Jaden Jones to Bryson Allen with 11:54 to go in the second quarter. The Mustangs drive was 75 yards in nine plays and included a 28-yard run by Shakobe Harper.

A fast start is new

Fresno State scored 21 points in the first quarter. A year ago, the Bulldogs averaged 5.5 points in the first quarter of their 13 games. It was their lowest scoring quarter during the season with 71 total points.

They led Cal Poly 7-0 after one quarter last season, going on to a 63-10 victory.

Mims scored again, ‘Dogs up 21-0

Cal Poly picked up its first first down of the game, a 20-yard pass play from Jaden Jones to Shakobe Harper. But the Mustangs ended up punting again and the Bulldogs scored again, their third TD coming on a 1-yard run by Jordan Mims with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Remigio run extends ‘Dogs lead

Nikko Remigio scored on a 13-yard run to cap an easy 93-yard drive in nine plays to put the Bulldogs up 14-0 with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter.

Jake Haener is 10 of 11 for 129 yards and Fresno State has a 165 total yards to the Mustangs’ nine. The Bulldogs are averaging 9.2 yards per play.

A second three and out

Cal Poly went three and out on its second possession, but Michael Roth got off a 62-yard punt. Fresno State will start its next drive from it;s 6-yard line.

Cal Poly has run six plays from scrimmage for nine yards.

Mims TD run puts Bulldogs up 7-0

Fresno State is on the board, taking the Cal Poly punt and driving 68 yards in nine plays with running back Jordan Mims scoring from 1-yard out with 8:37 remaining in the first quarter.

Quarterback Jake Haener was 5 of 5 for 60 yards on the drive, with Nikki Remigio catching two of those passes for 29 yards including one for 20 yards.

QB change

Cal Poly started freshman Jaden Jones at quarterback, ahead of junior Spencer Brasch. Jones hit his first pass, for three yards, but the Mustangs went three-and-out.

Not that hot

The high in Fresno on Thursday was 106 degrees, two less than the forecast high. That still matches the second hottest game day ever at Bulldog/Valley Children’s Stadium. It was 109 degrees on Sept 2, 2017 for a game against Incarnate Word and 106 on Sept. 1, 2007 for a game against Sacramento State.

The temperature at kickoff was 101 degrees. It was 102 degrees at kick for the Incarnate Word game as well as a Sept. 15, 2012 game against Colorado and Sept. 1, 2007 against Sacramento State.

The game

The Fresno State Bulldogs open the season on Thursday against FCS Cal Poly. The Bulldogs are a 41.5-point favorite after the line opened at just 34.5, and they have routinely ripped lower division opponents - last season they beat the Mustangs 63-10, rolling up 671 yards of offense while allowing just 274.

Here is where to catch the game on TV and radio:

TV: FS1 (Eric Collins and Devin Gardner)

• Find it fast: Channels 652, 1652 on AT&T Uverse; 35, 408, 731, 1208 on Comcast; 219 on DirecTV; 150 on Dish Network

Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)

• Find it fast: 1400AM in Visalia/Tulare; 1340AM in Fresno; 1280AM in Stockton; 970AM in Bakersfield; 92.9FM in Modesto; 96.7FM in Fresno.

Pregame notes

Defensive end Andres Fox, a transfer from Stanford, has not been cleared to play against the Mustangs. He is expected back next week when the Bulldogs play Oregon State. David Perales and Isaiah Johnson will start at the defensive end positions, backed up by Charles Remlinger and Devo Bridges.

Fresno State wideout Jalen Cropper will have Moreno-Cropper on the nameplate on the back of his jersey this season in honor of his grandfather. “I lost my grandpa in 2000,” he said, through the athletics department. He was one of the biggest influences in my life. To everyone who gets the chance to watch this year, I want to be remembered by both names because of the influence he had on me, and for the remembrance of my grandpa’s life. I will continue to live through his name and dedicate this season to him.”

The Bulldogs continued to work some different combinations on the offensive line through the week in practice, but JC transfer Jacob Spomer is expected to start at left tackle. Spomer made a big move through the middle of fall camp, and quickly caught up on the offense and the speed of the speed of the game. The key there? “I think the best thing we did was put him up against (David) Perales every day,” coach Jeff Tedford said.

The Bulldogs had close to 90 players dressed for the game ...

Fresno State has not returned a kickoff for a touchdown since 2008 against Nevada. Cal Poly last allowed a kickoff for a touchdown last season when Montana’s Malik Flowers went 95 yards for a score.

It has been a while since the Bulldogs had a punt return touchdown, as well. That is another target for a group coached by special teams coordinator John Baxter. The last punt return score did come against Cal, back in 2013. Isaiah Burse had two in that game, the second going for 58 yards. But the Bulldogs have gone 108 games and 142 punt returns without a touchdown.

Jake Haener last season against Cal Poly: 17 of 22 (77.3%) for 380 yards and four touchdowns. That’s 17.3 yards per attempt. The next highest by a Bulldogs’ quarterback is Derek Carr in a 51-0 victory over UC Davis in 2009. Carr was 8 of 13 for 201 yards, 15.5 yards per attempt, with one touchdown and one interception.

Scout watch: The Pittsburgh Steelers had two scouts at the game. The New York Giants also had a scout here.

Guizar strong

Former Fresno State football player Efrain Guizar served as an honorary alumni captain for Thursday’s game.

Guizar, who played for the Bulldogs in 1997-1998, fought for playing time as a walk-on from Kerman High to become a key player in Fresno State’s secondary. He even nabbed as many as six interceptions in one season.

Guizar’s current fight has inspired others, too.

Guizar, 47, was diagnosed late last year with Lou Gehrig’s disease (also called ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It’s a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

When asked by Fresno State play-by-play announcer Paul Loeffler prior to Thursday’s game what motivates Guizar to keep fighting, the former safety referenced his Bulldog days.

“The never-give-up mentality, just like when I walked on,” Guizar said. “I said ‘What the heck. Once you commit to something, you cannot give up.

“I’m not going to give up.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2022 at 6:35 PM.