Fresno State QB Jake Haener hits transfer portal, likely to head back to Washington

When Fresno State beat UCLA at the Rose Bowl back in September, quarterback Jake Haener said it had been a dream to play in that stadium, more specifically to play in the New Year’s Day game in that stadium.

He hit the NCAA transfer portal on Tuesday, one day after Bulldogs coach Kalen DeBoer was hired at Washington, and all indications are that Haener will chase that dream next season with DeBoer and the Huskies in the program where he started his college career.

Haener in just 18 games at Fresno State passed for 5,831 yards, ranking 10th on the Bulldogs’ all-time list. He threw 46 touchdown passes, good for ninth. And, he won some big football games for the Bulldogs including that win at UCLA when leading the Bulldogs down the field in the final seconds to a game-winning score on a 13-yard pass to wideout Jalen Cropper with just 14 seconds to go.

Fresno State has been living dangerously at the quarterback position the past three seasons, with just three eligible scholarship quarterbacks in the program in 2019 with Jorge Reyna, Ben Wooldridge and Steven Comstock, four in 2020 with Haener, Wooldridge, Logan Fife and Jalan Early, and three this season with Haener, Jaylen Henderson and Fife.

Most college programs will carry five and the Bulldogs were in a more tenuous position considering Wooldridge and Comstock were redshirt freshmen in 2019, yet to take a snap in a FBS game. Fife and Early were true freshmen in 2020, and Henderson was a true freshman this season.

That finally will catch up to the Bulldogs, who are bowl eligible and awaiting a matchup on Sunday after the conference championship games have been played.

Henderson and Fife are the only scholarship quarterbacks remaining on the roster, with a combined total of 21 career passes between them.

Henderson, who beat out Fife for the No. 2 spot behind Haener, is 5 of 8 for 49 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Fife is 7 of 13 for 51 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Haener, who transferred to Fresno State during fall camp in 2019, doesn’t figure to have much trouble winning a starting job if following DeBoer back to Seattle.

The Huskies were 4-8 this season, 0-3 after coach Jimmy Lake was fired. They played three quarterbacks during the season with redshirt sophomore Dylan Morris taking most of the snaps.

Morris hit 60.6% of this passes for 2,458 yards and threw 14 touchdown passes, but also 12 interceptions. He was benched in favor of freshman Sam Huard making his first career start in last week’s Apple Cup rivalry game, a 40-13 Washington State victory.