FRESNO, Calif. >> In a way, you could say that quarterback Jake Haener was born to play in Fresno State’s Bulldog Stadium.
And, that he was born because of Bulldog Stadium.
It is where his parents, Julie and Ryan, first caught sight of each other in a chance meeting that led to a courtship, and then, as Haener puts it, “I came along.”
Saturday, in his Bulldog Stadium debut as Fresno State’s starting quarterback, Haener tries to add to the tale against the University of Hawaii in the season opener for both teams.
It would be a storybook twist for the fourth-year junior whose college career got off to a start that was a whole lot less idyllic. Recruited out of Danville, Calif., to Washington, Haener got his big opportunity in 2018 summoned off the bench as a redshirt freshman in the third quarter of a close game against Cal.
But it quickly turned into an enduring nightmare when his second pass was intercepted and returned 36 yards for a touchdown in Cal’s 12-10 victory over the 15th-ranked Huskies.
A virulent portion of UW fans held it against Haener well into 2019 when Haener was competing against Jacob Eason, a Seattle-area golden boy who had transferred home from Georgia, in a down-to-the-wire battle for the Huskies’ starting job.
The 6-foot, 6-inch, power-throwing Eason was a five-star recruit and looked every bit the part of a pro QB. Haener, at 6 feet, acknowledges some people in Washington “think I’m 5 feet, 9 inches.”
The opposition to Haener from some fans became so personal and abusive that he deleted his social media accounts, prompting a Seattle Times reporter to write, “I’ve never seen a player more disliked by his own fans.”
When Eason emerged as the starting choice, Haener two days later transferred to Fresno State, where he sat out the 2019 season per NCAA rules, and ran the scout team.
Reflecting on the UW experience, Haener said, “It matured me as a young man and I think it was a really good experience to go through. It taught me a lot about myself and how to handle things as a 20-year-old and what I had to overcome and persevere through.”
Haener said he came to view the UW period, “As a (learning) moment, I took it as a challenge, a building block for me, personally.”
Fresno, then, was something of a safe harbor and re-starting point, a place where his father grew up and his mother started her career as a weekend TV news anchor. “They had some mutual friends and went to a Bulldog football game where my dad saw my mom for the first time,” Haener said. Soon after, he sent her flowers and the relationship began.
In Haener, the Bulldogs, also see a re-boot of sorts for themselves after 2019’s uncharacteristic 4-8 (2-6 conference) showing, a quarterback who can be “a playmaker, not (just) a game manager,” first-year head coach Kalen DeBoer said.
“I think Jake just is the guy right now that makes us what we want to be at a very high level and we’re expecting big things from him right out of the chute,” DeBoer said.
Haener said, “Now, I’m going to start my first game here on Saturday, so it’s pretty awesome.”
After all, he was practically born to play at Bulldog Stadium.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
