In its final football home game of the year, Fresno State won its seventh-straight outing by defeating Wyoming 30-0 on Friday night. With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 8-4 and 7-1 in the Mountain West conference (MW).
The seven game win streak marks the longest for the Bulldogs since 2013, when the team won 10 straight and was led by quarterback Derek Carr.
Fresno State also celebrated its 13 seniors before kickoff, including Jake Haener, Dontae Bull, LJ Early, Evan Williams and Elijah Gates, Zach Hartsfield, Raymond Pauwels Jr. and Jared Torres, Ty Jones, Jalen Moreno-Cropper, Nikko Remigio and Zane Pope, Jordan Mims and David Perales.
At the end of the first quarter, Haener threw his only touchdown of the night to Remigio. The touchdown marked Haener’s 27th consecutive game with a touchdown pass, which set a MW conference record.
Haener had another strong game as he completed 21/32 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. With a 73.5% pass completion on the season, Haener ranks first in the nation out of 124 qualified quarterbacks.
Since coming back from injury on Oct. 29, Haener has completed 74.7% of his passes for 1578 yards, 13 touchdowns and two interceptions, both of which came in his first game back against San Diego State. More importantly, Haener has led the Bulldogs to a 5-0 record and a MW West Division championship.
“I actually thought I kept it together a little better than I was expecting…[Fresno State] has meant a lot to me and it’s done a lot of great things for me and my family. I’m super grateful for this program and to be the quarterback here for three years,” Haener said.
Remigio spent the first four seasons of his college career at UC Berkeley but transferred to Fresno State shortly after the 2021 season.
“The fanbase is unbelievable. To perform for them week-in and week-out has been a blessing… I’m so honored to be a part of it,” Remigio said.
Following the game, Pauwels got engaged to his girlfriend to celebrate the night.
Moreno-Cropper is eligible to stay another year at Fresno State due to the COVID-19 shortened season. However, Fresno State Head Coach Jeff Tedford “fully expects” Moreno-Cropper to move on even though the player hasn’t made an official decision.
The game itself was dominated by the ‘Dogs from start to finish.
Mims’ performance was the second time in his Bulldog career recording three touchdowns. The first came in 2018 against Idaho.
The shutout was the ‘Dogs first of the season. Their previous shutout also came against the Cowboys in 2021.
Perales left the game in the second quarter with an injury. Tedford described Perales’ status leading up to the MW Championship game as “day-to-day.”
For the third time in six years Fresno State will take on Boise State in the MW championship game. All three have been hosted by the Broncos. The Bulldogs lost 17-14 in 2017, but they were able to avenge their loss the following year with a 19-16 win after running back Ronnie Rivers scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime
After missing the first game this season against Boise State, Haener and Williams are eager to face them.
The ‘Dogs lost that game 40-20 which dropped them to 1-4 on the season, since that point, the Bulldogs are 7-0 and are playing great on both sides of the ball. The offense is averaging 36.1 points per game while the defense is only giving up 14.9 over that span.
Prior to the game against Boise State on Oct. 8, Haener and Williams talked with Broncos safety JL Skinner. Skinner told them that he was disappointed that he couldn’t compete against them.
The duo replied with “We’ll see you in the conference championship.”
