How Logan Bonner’s leadership helped lead USU to MW conference title
After quarterback Jordan Love left Utah State following the 2019 season to enter the NFL Draft, Utah State Football’s quarterback situation was less than ideal.
Head Coach Gary Andersen brought in Jason Shelley from Utah to be the starting quarterback in 2020. As a result, the previously presumed starter, Henry Colombi, transferred to Texas Tech.
After an 0-3 start to the season, Gary Andersen and the program parted ways. After an 0-4 start to the season, Shelley was dismissed from the team. Andrew Peasley was the starting quarterback in the final two games of the year, guiding the Aggies to their one win over New Mexico.
When Blake Anderson was hired as head coach in December, one of his responsibilities was to revamp the offense. He brought in three offensive players with him from Arkansas State; wide receiver Reece Jarvis, wide receiver Brandon Bowling and quarterback Logan Bonner.
Arkansas State’s 2020 campaign saw Bonner lead them to a 4-7 record. He had his moments, throwing for 239 yards in a win against Kansas State. But in a season where the Red Wolves were ravaged by COVID issues, he averaged 169.36 passing yards per game and had just 18 touchdown passes in 11 games.
Flash forward almost a year later and Bonner is a Mountain West Champion. He has one of the best seasons of any quarterback in the conference. He threw four touchdowns in five games — including Saturday when he set a passing touchdown record for the Mountain West Championship Game — and threw for a career-high five touchdowns once, against San Jose State.
Saturday’s game was one of his best performances of the season. He was 29-of-42 passing for 318 yards and was named offensive MVP after routing San Diego State 46 to 13. He also broke Jordan Love’s single-season touchdown passing record during the game, finishing the season with 35 passing touchdowns through 13 games.
Quite the contrast from 2020.
Besides arguably senior receiver Deven Thompkins, who is second nationally in receiving yards, Bonner has been the important offensive piece for the team’s success.
It was unclear who the starter would be between Bonner and Peasley coming out of fall camp — especially because Bonner was out with an injury throughout most of the summer.
But his hard-nosed, chip-on-the-shoulder attitude on the field quickly led to him claiming the starting job.
“I broke my foot the second week here,” Bonner said. “So I didn’t participate in one workout until the end of summer … so it was tough at first just the circumstances and new school and new teammates and then not being able to do anything with them. It’s easy to say something when you’re sitting on the sidelines on a scooter. So I didn’t want to be that guy … so I kept my mouth shut, did everything I needed to do and when my time came to get back on the field with the guys, I was going to prove to them that I was a leader. I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t gonna talk. I was just gonna prove it to them. I feel like I’ve done that.”
Bonner has been banged up, knocked around, sacked, bullied, and temporarily left several games injured throughout the season. But his unchanging underdog attitude has never let him stay down for long. Bonner was snubbed of any MW awards, despite being one of the top three quarterbacks in the conference in most statistical categories.
He was ignored and written off. Yet he responded the way he had all year and was left standing on a stage, holding a trophy high above his head as blue and white confetti fell from the air around him.
Paige Johnson
“Bottom line is he was one of, if not the best quarterback in the league, and for him not to get any honors is a disrespect,” said defensive coordinator Ephraim Banda. “We took it personally. The dude was just lights out. Hopefully, now at this point, the league will start to respect him the way he should be.”
“We felt disrespected this whole year, and we definitely felt disrespected coming into this week,” said Bonner after the Mountain West Championship. “We just play with a chip on our shoulder, and we got it done.”
The rest of the team felt the same way and played with the same attitude, especially in their matchup with SDSU. The Aggies played the game just days after the Mountain West announced that Anderson was not named the Mountain West Coach-of-the-Year despite taking a 1-5 program to a conference championship game in just his first year in the program.
The team made their displeasure heard by chanting “coach of the year” chants as Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson introduced Anderson on the championship podium postgame.
Bonner may not be the loudest person on the team, but he has an obvious impact on the team’s collective attitude. The swagger and body language he radiates when he steps on the field is felt by everyone in the stadium. Bonner defines the phrase ‘show don’t tell’ in all facets of his life.
“Logan is not a real vocal guy; he’ll speak when he needs to. What he does is the guy just keeps getting up,” says Anderson on his quarterback. “When you watch a guy sacrifice his body like he does, he just comes to work every day and has earned the respect of the team, and it’s hard to not play hard for that guy.”
Anderson was not the only coach to rave about his quarterback’s resilience and toughness.
“First of all, he’s really tough. It’s part of what makes him great,” said offensive coordinator Anthony Tucker. “He’s never missed a day of practice when there were days where he’s probably limped through practice. Just really, really proud about the way he just shows up to work.”
Bonner certainly walked the walk more than he talked the talked, even when his walk was more of a limp. Take the Hawaii game for example. He was knocked out of the game with an injury in the second quarter, and missed the rest of the half. But in the third quarter, he came in and threw for three touchdowns.
Bonners relentless something-to-prove mindset helped lead his team to their first ten-win season since 2018 and their first Mountain West title in program history.