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TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — On Dec. 18, a stoic-looking Logan Bonner stood deep in the confines of SoFi Stadium as he waited to get onto the team bus.
Utah State had just defeated Oregon State 24-13 to win the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl and to complete an 11-win season. Bonner appeared jovial field-side and embraced head coach Blake Anderson when the game ended, and then he celebrated with his teammates.
An hour removed from the game, though, the reality of Bonner's situation may have been setting in. He had exited the game in the first quarter with a knee injury and hadn't returned. As the bus drove the Aggies to LAX, and a plane flew them into the offseason, uncertainty loomed.
Bonner had torn his ACL. Instead of spending his final collegiate offseason focused solely on enhancing his abilities, he spent it undergoing surgery and then rehab three times a week.
Fast-forward eight months and Bonner is playing once again. He managed to get himself ready for fall camp and even started last week's opener against Connecticut.
While he continues to rehab his knee, Bonner now prepares to lead Utah State into Tuscaloosa for one of the stiffest tests of his career. Utah State faces No. 1 Alabama Saturday (5:30 MT, SEC Network) as a 41.5-point underdog, according to most sportbooks.
Quite the undertaking.
But not as daunting as the experience he's gone through this year.
"Yeah it's tough," Bonner said of his injury. "Definitely the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my career, and I've had some injuries. It's taken from surgery to walking two weeks after surgery, from three times a day rehab from January all until about two days before the game, and I'm still doing it now. It's still continuing, it's gonna be a long journey for me.
"But I wouldn't want to miss (playing my final year) for the world."
Returning to the field eight months after the initial injury is not unheard of, but it is a quick turnaround, and he seemed to manage the return well last week.
Bonner was sacked once and had three carries for positive yards against UConn, and even put down a block during a Calvin Tyler Jr. carry. The contact did not seem to rattle him, though. While a heavy Aggies rushing attack relieved some of his workload, Bonner still finished an efficient 21-of-29 passing for 281 yards and three touchdown passes.
"There were about three throws I really want back, really uncharacteristic of me — just trying to get it out a little quicker than normal," Bonner said of his performance. "Other than that, I thought I made a lot of good decisions."
While playing Week 0 gives Nick Saban an opportunity to see game film on the Aggies, the game seemed to be a bigger advantage for Bonner, who was able get his legs under him.
"I think he's only going to get more and more comfortable. Now he's been bumped and bruised a couple of times," Anderson said. "Gonna get better as we go. This week will be challenging itself, obviously. But big picture, pleased that we had him this early and pleased that he played that well."
Bonner will be tested to his limits on Saturday.
Alabama returns seven starters from last season that gave up an average of 218 passing yards per game and 2.7 sacks. Leading the passing attack is linebacker Will Anderson Jr., who won the 2021 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is awarded to the top defensive player of the year. On the defensive line, every possible starter has extensive game experience besides five-star true freshman Jaheim Oatis.
Bonner, who appeared in a game against Alabama as a backup quarterback for Arkansas State in 2018, is fully aware of the task at hand. A vocal leader in the locker room, he has been sure to tell his guys what they're up against.
"Yeah, I basically just told them, 'Guys, they're a good football team. We're going to play a lot of good football teams this year,'" Bonner said. "They're one of the best, obviously, everybody knows that. And so we just go in there and play our best ball."
While recognizing Alabama's ability, Bonner stressed to his teammates to not be intimidated and to play with a self-assurance, similar to what the Aggies showed last season when they won five games they were favored to lose and went 7-0 in road affairs.
"We're on scholarship, too. We can make plays, too," Bonner said. "Just be confident and know your job and do your best and see what happens. I think that going there and being all 'we're playing this team,' you get beat before the game even starts. So I think that you just need to go in there and play ball and treat it like a regular game. And there's no difference, the field is still 100 yards long."
On Saturday, Utah State will be overmatched in every position. Even just imagining an Aggies victory feels like a foolish thing to do.
But entering the first big test of his final collegiate season, Bonner isn't afraid. If he can take on injury and rehab, he can on the Crimson Tide, and that's the type of leader you need going into a game like this.
