Bishop Davenport impresses in his USU Football debut

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Quarterback Bishop Davenport didn’t think he was going to play on Saturday. 

“Nah, not at all,” Davenport said. 

But the true freshman was ready. After injuries to quarterbacks Cooper Legas and Levi Williams, Davenport led a floundering Utah State football team from down 10-7 to a 17-13 win over Colorado State on Saturday night. 

His stats didn’t blow Aggie fans away — 41 passing yards on three completions from nine attempts and 29 rushing yards on 11 attempts with a touchdown — but he performed in back-to-back drives at the start of the second half. The Aggies went from trailing by three to leading by seven courtesy of a 48-yard field goal from kicker Connor Coles and a four-yard rushing touchdown from Davenport. 

At the time of Davenport’s touchdown, no one knew it would be the winning score, but reflecting on it afterward, he said it felt great. 

“It feels great,” Davenport said. “Especially when you got a team like this behind you, yeah it feels great.”

The performance of Davenport with no notice proves how good he could be, according to head coach Blake Anderson. 

“Bishop has had no reps with our offense other than just drill work,” Anderson said after the game. “To go out and to be able to do what he did says a lot about just his poise and what really he’s capable of, moving forward.”

While Davenport didn’t think he would play Saturday night, he always does his best to prepare like he will. 

Utah State’s Bishop Davenport looks downfield after a play during the Aggies’ 17-13 win over Colorado State on Saturday night in Fort Collins. (Heidi Bingham/Utah Statesman)

“I kind of go into every game trying to prepare myself that I am going to get in,” Davenport said. 

That preparation showed to defensive end Daniel Grzesiak who said Davenport didn’t show his inexperience. 

“He came in there cool, calm and collected,” Grzesiak said. “I couldn’t tell he was a freshman.”

Davenport credited the support of all his teammates with helping him stay calm and in control by joking with him and telling him to be himself.  Davenport said they wanted him to “stay comfortable and believe in the defense.”

Another big support was graduate running back Calvin Tyler Jr. who supported Davenport down the stretch. 

“He helped me, motivate me, (got) me in my comfort zone,”  Davenport said. “He was telling me on the field, like just stay focused, just do you — play ball.”

Reflecting on his first collegiate game, Davenport said he was excited to play but had to lock in.

“I had to stay focused, honestly, and stay calm and just not get overwhelmed by the situation,” Davenport said. “I was just excited. Just, I was thanking God just for the situation, for the blessing. Just trying to get my team the dub.”

With three injured quarterbacks this season, the Aggies may want their quarterbacks to protect themselves better, but sometimes it goes against their playstyle. On Davenport’s second drive of the game, he bulldozed a Ram and spun off him during his game-long 19-yard rush. 

“They encourage me to slide and start diving, but I put my shoulder down for sure,” Davenport said. 

For Davenport, sometimes it’s just second nature. 

 “When I was younger I used to run a lot,” Davenport said. “I barely threw anything. Once I got to high school, the throwing aspect came into it.”

It’s unclear if Legas or Williams will be able to play at Wyoming on Saturday, but if they can’t, Davenport has shown he’s capable of scoring.

Featured image by Heidi Bingham from the Colorado State game.