Buffs redshirt sophomore cornerback Nigel Bethel has seen his role with the team steadily increase since he arrived in Boulder ahead of the 2019 campaign.

From a scout team role that season to playing sparingly in 2020 and now, with him getting some reps at cornerback, Bethel has started to demonstrate his value in games as opposed to on the practice field.

While fellow corners Mekhi Blackmon and Christian Gonzalez have eaten up the lion's share of snaps at the position, and seem primed to continue to do so, Bethel has made the most of his limited opportunities.

Against Texas A&M, he registered a career-high 48 snaps on defense, making a pair of tackles as well as a pass breakup.

He saw just 12 snaps defensively vs. Minnesota but managed to notch another pass defended in the process.

His two PBUs on the year tie him with Blackmon for the most among CU's corps of corners; only senior linebacker Nate Landman has more, leading the team outright with three.

As far as Karl Dorrell is concerned, Bethel has built nicely off the foundation he began to lay last year, in CU's condensed 2020 campaign.

Namely, Bethel came up big in CU's 24-13 road win over Arizona on Dec. 5 of last year.

With the Wildcats trailing 21-13 late in the third quarter and threatening near the goal line, Bethel intercepted a Will Plummer pass in the endzone after it was tipped by defensive end Terrance Lang at the line of scrimmage.

“If you remember last year, when he got thrown into play, it wasn’t very much, but whenever he did get thrown into play, he always found a way to get to the ball, get the ball in his hands and make plays on the football," he said.

"He did that last year in the Arizona game. He came in late in the game deep in the red zone and gets an interception."

Bethel had played a then-career-high 32 snaps in that game vs. the Wildcats, which he has since broken two weekends ago in Denver against Texas A&M.

After originally signing with Miami's Class of 2018, Bethel, a native of Miami, Fla., transferred to Colorado in 2019, redshirting that fall in accordance with NCAA rules.

Under Mel Tucker, there wasn't much word on Bethel, who was grinding it out on the scout team.

"It was a tough experience — a long road from the scout team to now but I feel like I just had to trust the process and keep working with coach ‘Meat’ (Demetrice Martin)," Bethel said.

"He helped me develop a lot. I thought, when I first came here, that I knew a lot about the position, but I really didn’t. Coach ‘Meat’ taught me and brought me up to speed.”

But since then, Bethel is starting to see the fruits of his labor.

In addition to his snaps on defense, Bethel has made his presence known on special teams, particularly the punt coverage unit, as he leads the Buffs with three forced fair catches.

"He’s become a better player in a lot of respects, not just as a corner," Dorrell said. "He’s a good gunner for us and works on special teams, doing a lot of good things for us. He’s developing, so I’m excited about the product of what he is."

"He’s a really good reserve corner that we feel comfortable playing with but he’s also spread out and doing some other things for us, as well.”