MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Beanie Bishop Jr. has asserted himself as not just one of West Virginia’s best offseason additions via the transfer portal, but an argument can be made he’s one of the best transfer portal pickups on defense in all of college football.

Bishop leads the nation in pass breakups (19) and passes defended (23). He paces the Mountaineers with four interceptions, tied for the ninth-most in the nation.

As announced on Monday, Bishop is also a semifinalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award, which is handed out annually to the top player in college football.

Bishop is one of 20 semifinalists for the award. He is one of three Big 12 players in the running, joined by Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat and Iowa State defensive back T.J. Tampa.

Bishop tallied eight tackles and a pair of passes defended in Saturday’s loss to Oklahoma. He will be honored, along with the rest of the Mountaineer senior players, this Saturday before the Mountaineers take on Cincinnati at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.