Cropper explodes in 38-30 win

Friday, September 24

Fresno, CA

7 p.m. PT

Fresno State

4-1 , 1-0

UNLV

0-4 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UNLV

Fresno State

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

Cropper explodes in 38-30 win

9/24/2021 10:45:00 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Press Conference - HC Kalen DeBoer Postgame Press Conference - DE Arron Mosby Postgame Press Conference - WR Jalen Cropper UNLV-Fresno State: Postgame Quotes UNLV-Fresno State: Postgame Notes Photo Gallery

Jalen Cropper ties Davante Adams' Mountain West single-game touchdown reception record with four on Friday night.

By: Fresno State Athletic Communications

FRESNO, Calif -- No. 22 Fresno State remains undefeated at home after a come-from-behind 38-30 victory over UNLV in its Mountain West opener at Bulldog Stadium on Friday night.

The Bulldogs were led offensively by Jake Haener who threw for 378 yards and five touchdowns. Four of Haener's five touchdown passes were to Jalen Cropper.

How It Happened
UNLV opened the game up 14-0, scoring on its first two possessions of the night. Fresno State got its first points of the game with 11:38 on the clock in the second, a 25-yard field goal from Cesar Silva.

Late in the quarter, a five-play, 46-yard drive was capped off by an 18-yard touchdown reception from Erik Brooks with 32 seconds on the clock. That cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 14-9 going into the half.

It took the Rebels one play on their opening possession of the second half to answer. An 80-yard screen to Tyleek Collins put UNLV up 12 at 21-9.

Then it became the Haener and Cropper show as the two hooked up for a touchdown on each of the next three Bulldog possessions. The 20 unanswered points gave Fresno State its largest lead of the night at 29-21 with 12:21 remaining in the game.

UNLV answered with nine unanswered to regain the lead. Haener and Cropper weren't done, though, finishing off a four-play, 61-yard drive with a 26-yard pitch and catch that put the Bulldogs up for good. Silva tacked on another field goal in the final minutes to make the final score 38-30.

Notes

Fresno State won its first game this season when trailing at the half.
Fresno State won its first Mountain West opener since 2018.
Fresno State is now 6-4 in its Mountain West openers.
Jalen Cropper has scored a touchdown in six-straight games, the first time a Bulldog receiver has had a touchdown in at least six consecutive games since Davante Adams. Adams holds the record with nine-straight games with a receiving touchdown.
Cropper's four receiving touchdowns ties the single game program record. He joins Davante Adams, Jim Molich and Charlie Jones as the only 'Dogs to do so.
Jake Haener's five touchdown passes against the Rebels were the most in a game by a Bulldog quarterback since Derek Carr in 2013.
Jordan Mims' 140 kickoff return yards were the most by a single Bulldog since Isaiah Burse had 149 kickoff return yards at San Diego State on Dec. 3, 2011.
Arron Mosby led the team with 2.0 TFL. The senior defensive end now has 8.5 TFL on the season.
Mosby also forced a fumble for the second time this season, halting a crucial UNLV scoring drive.
Kwami Jones had his first career fumble recovery.

Quotes
Head Coach Kalen DeBoer
On the team's overall performance…
"Find a way, right? That's what it's all about. It wasn't pretty at times, but you have to tip your hat to UNLV as well. There is no question that they are a better team than what their record shows. Their schedule has two top 25 teams earlier and one of the better teams in the FCS that got away from one of those games. Knew they'd come in swinging and playing hard. They did a nice job with some things, just little adjustments, some things that maybe they hadn't shown on offense much, if any, especially the screen game and some of those things. We have to adjust better and quicker. Offense got caught behind chains at times, just not being able to run the football but we found a way to win and found a way to get the ball in the air and score in the second half. There's no question the guys in that locker room care so much and sometimes they maybe care too much, and they just have to go out there and have fun and play ball. Proud of this team because the way they kept playing until the very end. There are some lessons were going to learn, there's some things were going to be able to get better at from watching the film but it's obviously better to do that coming off a win than coming off a loss."

Jalen Cropper, Jr., WR
About the relationship between Jalen and Jake Haener...
"I just feel like there is a lot of trust between me and Jake on and off the field. I think going through summer, spring ball, and fall camp we had a lot of practices, a lot of time, a lot of chances where we were able to connect on certain plays. Getting in the film room and studying a lot of the film on opponents this season, and I feel like just everything we do from on and off the field to whatever we do with our relationship. I think that ties in to what we do on the field."

Arron Mosby, Sr., DE
On tonight's game coming off last week's thrilling road victory at UCLA...
"For this game, I'll just say it was a humbling moment for our team, you know. Coming off a big win, you have people pumping you up, your head's in the sky and stuff like that. Going into a conference play, everyone wants that title and adversity hit. Like I said, it was great to see our team keep fighting and come out with a victory."

On the defense's mindset coming after halftime...
"Really, just keep playing football. Football is a four quarter game. And how they came out at halftime, it hit us again. And we were like 'okay, we're gonna have a long day.' So, just us and our defensive mentality - just try to get the ball back to that dominant offense that we do have. And that strip sack was a perfect time and place for it and the team needed it."

Up Next
No. 22 Fresno State next travels to Hawai'i on Oct. 2. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network.

On Friday night, Fresno State Athletics announced it will retire the No. 22 jersey of Lorenzo Neal (1990-92) on Oct. 23 versus Nevada for Homecoming. Tickets are available at gobulldogs.com/tickets.

"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please visit bulldogfoundation.org.

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