Fresno State, with Jake Haener back, pulls off stunner with two TDs in 13 seconds

By Robert Kuwada

Updated October 30, 2022 8:57 AM

Fresno State was less than five minutes from oblivion in a Mountain West Conference race that it was expected to own from start to finish, and it had played a big part in getting there, teetering, right on the brink.

The Bulldogs were down two scores to San Diego State after they had a field goal blocked with just 4:53 to go, which fit in quite well with their first 35 minutes of football on Saturday at Valley Children’s Stadium. They had been flummoxed and flat outplayed by the Aztecs, who rolled up 449 yards hitting screens and play-action on offense, racked up seven sacks on defense and beat the Bulldogs on special teams with a well-executed fake punt.

But down 11 points, the Bulldogs still had life. They still had a resilient defense. They also had Jake Haener at quarterback for the first time since he went down with an ankle injury in a Week 3 loss at USC, and after scoring two touchdowns in a span of just 13 seconds in the final minute-plus they had an improbable 32-28 victory that tested the bounds of belief, and of reality.

“That was so crazy,” Haener said.

“I had my eyes closed for 10 minutes, praying,” said defensive end David Perales, who forced a big fourth-quarter turnover with a strip sack. “Just, I heard everyone screaming and I was like, ‘I can’t believe it.’”

The Fresno State football team gathers for photos as it celebrates its 32-28 win over San Diego State, pulling ahead in the final minutes to win the Battle For The Old Oil Can Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com

That final stretch started inauspiciously when wideout Nikko Remigio muffed a punt after the Bulldogs defense forced its only three-and-out of the game to get the offense the ball back.

Remigio was able to get on the ball, but the Bulldogs ended up 80 yards from the end zone with, now, 3:55 to play.

But Haener led them right down the field, 80 yards in 11 plays, with running back Jordan Mims scoring from 3 yards out. The Bulldogs quarterback, operating with five receivers on the field, then hit Zane Pope for a 2-point conversion and all of a sudden Fresno State was within 28-25.

It still needed to recover an onside kick, and did. Freshman kicker Dylan Lynch hit it perfectly, low and with some pace, and the football glanced off wideout Tyrell Shavers, past wideout Jesse Matthews and Pope was able to pounce on it at the San Diego State 37.

Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener scrambles away from pressure against San Diego State Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com

It was the Bulldogs’ first successful onside kick since 2015 when they had one against Utah and the last of some big plays by Pope, who caught a career-high 10 passes for a career-high 143 yards and a touchdown.

COMEBACK BRINGS MEMORIES OF CAL BOWL FOR TEDFORD

“Just gotta believe,” said Pope, who had just 14 receptions for 164 yards and no touchdowns going into the game.

Haener then got Fresno State (4-4, 3-1 in the MW) in front. On the first play from scrimmage he hit a quick throw to Remigio, who slipped a tackle by safety Davaughn Celestine and with a late block from Jalen Moreno-Cropper sprinted into the end zone.

What was left of a crowd of 37,107 was on its feet, roaring.

“I thought the people who stayed did a great job … I saw a lot of people leaving, though,” coach Jeff Tedford said. “What it reminded me of was the 1982 Cal Bowl game where we were down 28-7 in the fourth quarter and everybody left the stadium, then listened to it on the radio and tried to get back in.

“I can’t tell you over the years how many hundreds of thousands of people have told me they were at that game the whole game and I was like, ‘No you were not.’ Everybody left …”

That was 40 years ago in the same stadium and Fresno State, with Tedford at quarterback, beat Bowling Green 29-28.

Saturday nght, the Bulldogs put down the game, finally, when cornerback Carlton Johnson, who had broken a bone in his foot when he dropped a weight on it in a fall camp workout and was playing in his first career game, picked off a pass by San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden.

Fresno State defensive end David Perales pressures San Diego State quarterback Jalen Mayden, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com

“So happy for the kids, really,” Tedford said. “All the things that you preach about it’s a four-quarter game and just keep plugging along and I told a couple of the guys there going into the fourth quarter that this is what great memories are made of right here when we come back.

“I didn’t expect it to be quite like that, but what an exciting game. It’s a game these kids will never forget for the rest of their life.”

HAENER OWNS FOURTH QUARTER IN RETURN FROM INJURY

The Bulldogs don’t likely get there without an adjustment on offense and with Haener, who hit 34 of 45 passes for 394 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Fresno State quarterback was sacked six times in the first three quarters, but in that second half the Bulldogs beat the Aztecs pass rush by spreading the field with five wideouts, or four and a running back who was either going to block or run a route.

Haener was 16 of 21 for 162 yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“They’re changing the picture late,” Haener said. “When teams bring pressure like that I like to just spread it out.

“You’re going to put five guys up there and if they put six on the line I can get a quick gain and throw the ball and we have good-enough guys that if I get it out on the perimeter fast enough and they have six up they can make somebody miss and turn it into a positive gain.”

That is what happened on the game-winner to Remigio, who caught 10 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns.

“We had the back in and the line was sliding to the field and they were playing a little soft so we just ran an option route,” Haener said. “I actually thought he was going to break harder, that’s why I kind of threw it inside.

“Their guy kind of sat on the hitch. I placed it away from him, and Nikko broke a tackle and just kept going.”

Fresno State’s Nikko Remigio, top, leaps over San Diego State’sJack Browning, bottom, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com

BY THE NUMBERS

Minus-3: Rushing yards for the Bulldogs. They had lost 12 of their past 13 games when rushing for 30 yards or less.

7: Sacks by San Diego State, its most since it had seven in a victory over Hawaii in 2020.

6: Pass plays of 20 or more yards by the Aztecs. San Diego State went into the game with only seven in its first seven games, ranking last in the Mountain West and 129th in the nation.

73: Completion percentage for Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener in the fourth quarter this season (27 of 37).

12: Tackles for Bulldogs linebacker Malachi Langley.

37.5: The touchdown percentage for Fresno State in the red zone. The Bulldogs scored just three, in eight trips inside the San Diego State 20.

2: Games in a row Fresno State had the same starting offensive line. It will have to make another switch, its sixth in seven games, after right tackle Dontae Bull suffered a serious leg injury in the first half.

15: Points for the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter. They had scored just 33 in their first seven games, averaging 4.7.

0: Points scored off four turnovers gained by the Bulldogs.

7.1: Yards per play for San Diego State, its highest in a game since it averaged 7.1 in a 38-7 win at Utah State in 2020.