Haener leads Fresno St. to rout of San Jose State

After winning the Mountain West Conference title last year, San Jose State began Thursday needing a victory in its regularseason finale just to become bowl-eligible this year

Jake Haener and Fresno State made sure that did not happen.

Haener, a Monte Vista-Danville alum, threw for 343 yards and four touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Spartans 40-9 at CEFCU Stadium. It was Fresno State’s largest margin of victory over San Jose State since a 45-7 win in 2005.

“They played an outstanding football game,” San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan said of the Bulldogs. “They were the better team today; that was obvious to anybody who watched.”

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).

Haener connected with Juan Rodriguez from 6 yards out for a TD and then with Menlo-Atherton alum 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 yards to Freedom-Brentwood alum Ronnie Rivers.

“Haener’s fantastic,” Brennan said. “He’s slippery and he throws the ball well on the move.”

Cropper caught seven passes for 71 yards, Rivers had five catches for 91 yards. Cropper also ran for a TD. In order to be the Mountain West’s West Division champion, Fresno State needs San Diego State to lose to Boise State on Friday.

Matt Mercurio kicked field goals of 31, 26 and 36 yards for San Jose State, which lost its last three games. Nick Starkel was 19-for-42 passing for 260 yards.

“Lots of missed opportunities for us,” Brennan said. “And the biggest missed opportunity for us besides having a chance to beat Fresno is just not having a chance to get to the postseason again . ... It was just a hard day, a hard year.”

#8 Mississippi 31, Mississippi State 21: Snoop Conner ran for two touchdowns and Matt Corral ran for a TD and passed for 229 yards to help the visiting Rebels (10-2, 6-2 SEC) beat the Bulldogs (7-5, 4-4).

Mississippi finished with 388 yards of total offense, with Connor scoring twice on 1-yard runs in a decisive 21-0 outburst.

New deal: Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker signed a 10-year, $95 million extension through the 2032 season.

Only Alabama’s Nick Saban, who makes $9,753,221 a year, is paid more on an annual basis, according to the USA Today coaches’ salaries database.

The No. 12 Spartans close the regular season against Penn State on Saturday.