FRESNO ST. STAYS ALIVE
Jake Haener threw for 343 yards with four touchdowns and Fresno State defeated San Jose State 40-9 on Thursday, winning its fourth Mountain West Conference Thanksgiving Day game.
Fresno State 40, San Jose State 9
Fresno State (9-3, 6-2) ended the first half with back-to-back touchdowns three minutes apart, then opened the second half with a field goal and a touchdown to break away from San Jose State (5-7, 3-5).
Fresno State remains a half-game behind San Diego State in the Mountain West’s Western Division, pending the outcome of this morning’s Aztecs-Boise State game.
Haener connected with Juan Rodriguez from 6 yards out and then with Jordan Mims on a 45-yarder to build a 23-9 halftime lead. In the second half, Haener had touchdown passes of 29 yards to Jalen Cropper and 13 to Ronnie Rivers.
Cropper caught seven passes for 71 yards, Rivers had five catches for 91 yards. Cropper also ran for a TD.
Matt Mercurio kicked field goals of 31, 26 and 36 yards for San Jose State, which has lost its last three. Nick Starkel was 19-of-42 passing for 260 yards.
Haener has passed for 3,810 yards and 32 touchdowns this season. Haener is the seventh Bulldog to have
a 3,000-yard passing season. He joins Kevin Sweeney (1984), Trent Dilfer (1992, 1993), David Carr (2001), Paul Pinegar (2005), Derek Carr (2011, 2021, 2013) and Marcus McMaryion (2018).
No. 8 Mississippi 31, Mississippi State 21: Snoop Conner ran for two touchdowns and Mississippi scored 21 straight points to beat Mississippi State in a windy, rainy and cold Egg Bowl at Starkville, Miss.
Matt Corral ran for a touchdown and passed for 229 yards to help Ole Miss (10-2, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) overcome an early 6-3 deficit for a 24-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. Corral was 25 of 33 with an interception.
The Rebels finished with 388 yards of total offense, with Connor scoring twice on 1-yard runs during the decisive
outburst. He rushed for 60 yards on 16 carries. Dontario Drummond had 13 receptions for 133 yards and Jerrion Ealy scored on a 15yard run to make it 31-13 lead with 5:35 left.
Mississippi State’s Will Rogers was 38 of 58 for 336 yards and an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Walley in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs (7-5, 4-4) added an 11yard touchdown run by Jo’quavious Marks with 2:27 remaining, but could not pull within single digits.
The Bulldogs had 420 yards of total offense, primarily in the final period in the belated rally, but had trouble translating yards into points.
Makai Polk had 10 receptions for 98 yards and added a two-point conversion. Nolan McCord had field goals of 34 and 29 yards.
Winning a high-risk, high-reward match, was capped by the usual bragging rights for Mississippi.
The Rebels won a schoolrecord 10 regular-season games and wrapped up second place in the SEC West race.
A New Year’s Six appearance appears likely, accompanied by a Top 10 ranking.
Corral, already declared for the NFL Draft, remains a dark horse in the Heisman Trophy chase.
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs exceeded expectations in Mike Leach’s second season, beating No. 14 Texas A&M, No. 24 North Carolina State and winning four of the last six starts.
Rogers passed for 300plus yards for the 10th time this season as Mississippi State trends upward toward postseason play.