Utes on the rise: Safety Cole Bishop

With the 2021 Utah Football season now fully in the rearview mirror and spring ball just around the corner, it's time to reflect and review on the notable performances from the season. While players like Cameron Rising, Tavion Thomas, Devin Lloyd and Nephi Sewell made most of the big plays and helped lead the team to their first ever Pac-12 Championship, there were a handful of younger players who made notable contributions and are certainly players on the rise.

The following is a recap and analysis of freshman safety Cole Bishop, his 2021 contributions, and what potential may lie in store.

A three-star commit out of the state of Georgia, Bishop was a well respected recruit and quickly acclimated to the college level. After being inserted into the lineup early on, Bishop quickly proved he belonged and was a staple of the defense from that point on.

Multiple times throughout the season, Bishop was one of the team leaders in defensive tackles with his most notable performance against No. 3 Oregon. In addition to leading the team with seven total tackles, five of which were solo, he also blocked an Oregon field goal attempt early in the first quarter to help Utah maintain complete momentum.

You can’t teach this @Cole_bishop_8 has heart pic.twitter.com/qESz2gvlHx
— Christian Sparkman (@lilsparky52) November 21, 2021

As the season came to its end, Bishop finished with 54 tackles in just 10 games for sixth most on the team. From those tackles he strung together notable performances that included four tackles in his first collegiate appearance, a then career-high five stops in his first start against Stanford, a team-high eight stops in the Pac-12 Championship and finished off the season with eight tackles and a fumble recovery against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

For his efforts, Bishop was a Pac-12 honorable mention, had the most tackles for loss by a Utah true freshman since 2007 with three against Arizona and led all true freshmen on the team with his 54 total tackles.

Not only did Bishop prove right from the start that he could play at the collegiate level, but he also improved each and every game. To lead his team in total tackles multiple times throughout the season, especially in a power-five conference championship is no small feat. Time and again, Bishop demonstrated a veteran-like ability to not only predict a play before it happened and put himself in a position to make a critical stop, but he acquired new skills that helped force opposing offenses into submission.

Cole Bishop has been a big part of Utah’s growth as a team in the later part of this season. pic.twitter.com/jNWp704RLn
— Hans Olsen (@975Hans) December 4, 2021

As for the future, Bishop should no doubt continue to be a staple of the defense and leadership opportunities very well could be on the horizon. Like many before him, Bishop presents a solid foundation that has the potential to be molded into future NFL talent.

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