MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – If you predicted before last Saturday's Duquesne game that Hudson Clement would catch five passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns then you ought to run right out to your local convenience store and buy a lottery ticket.
Shoot, go buy one if you thought he was even going to start the game!
Nevertheless, what a night the Martinsburg resident had – one for the ages.
A series of injuries led to the non-scholarship, redshirt freshman getting his first collegiate start, just moments before kickoff.
Starting Z Devin Carter had his foot stepped on during last Wednesday's practice and wasn't quite ready to go, although he was dressed and went through pregame warmups. Backup Z, true freshman Traylon Ray, performed well during preseason camp and would have gotten the targets Clement got Saturday, but he is dealing with a tender hamstring.
So it was next man up, which happened to be Hudson Clement.
"I think we were coming out of the tunnel starting our warmup with Mike (Joseph) and coach (Bilal Marshall) told me, 'Hey, you are up at Z.' I was like, 'Sounds good, coach,'" Clement said following Saturday's 56-17 victory over Duquesne. "I think I liked it better that way because he didn't tell me ahead of time. I think I would have thought about it a lot more, and it would have got to my head a little bit, but I think it went good."
"Hudson got the start probably in the best way possible," he admitted. "He knew about a few minutes before the first snap that he was going to start, and I think life is about opportunities. What do you do with your opportunities? With his, he went out and had five catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns."
West Virginia prep football observers know all about Clement's record-setting performance in the 2021 Triple A state championship game when he accounted for eight touchdowns in Martinsburg High's 62-21 blowout victory over Huntington High.
In that contest, he caught four touchdowns, ran for three and threw another one in one of the most astonishing individual performances in state championship game history. Brown recalled watching the live stream feed of the game while he was getting his team prepared to face Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
"He probably had the best state championship game I've ever seen. We had bowl practice so I couldn't go, but I was sitting there watching it on the live feed, and I couldn't believe it," he said.
Clement's senior season at Martinsburg included 87 catches for 1,709 yards and 23 touchdowns as a receiver, 65 tackles, four interceptions and three fumble recoveries on defense, and ZERO Division I scholarship offers.
Not even Marshall was interested. Undeterred, Hudson chose to walk on at West Virginia to prove that he was a Division I football player.
"I feel like in high school the one thing that really didn't separate me was my speed. But coming up here, working out with Mike Joe (Joseph), I think that's been one of the biggest things for me," Clement explained.
Clement is definitely bigger, standing 6-feet-1 and weighing 199 pounds, but more importantly, he's much, much faster - perhaps now among the faster guys on the team. Clement's second touchdown catch demonstrated his improved speed. He ran right past Duquesne cornerback Javon Colston like he was standing still for a 70-yard touchdown. Hudson Clement's five-catch, 177-yard performance last Saturday was the best by a freshman first-time starter in school history (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo).
It sort of reminded us old-timers of Zach Abraham once running right past Denorse Mosley for a long touchdown in a game against another Pittsburgh football team quite a few years ago.
Actually, Abraham is the guy who immediately comes to mind when you watch Clement play. The former Wheeling Park grad had a similar background, too – unrecruited and under-appreciated, but sneaky fast with a burning desire to prove people wrong.
And Abraham was by no means a one-game wonder. He had tremendous games during his senior year against Temple and South Carolina and finished the 1994 campaign as the team's second-leading receiver with 41 catches for 755 yards and six touchdowns, but it was his Pitt performance that most remember.
Clement's effort last Saturday was the best-ever by a freshman making his first-career start. The 177 yards receiving were the 23rd most in school history, and it certainly opened the eyes of his coach.
"He's going to get opportunities, for sure," Brown predicted. "Physically, he's ready. The thing that he's done is he's had mistakes, but he didn't have those (Saturday).
"He's strong enough and big enough. He's earned more playing time, for sure."
He also earned a scholarship.
Brown awarded him one in front of the team right after the game.
"We didn't give him," Brown began … "he EARNED a scholarship. He's been really productive, and we were just waiting for him to do it in a game, and he broke out. I'm super happy for him. The Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of West Virginia and had a phenomenal senior year. He's not one of these guys that's just going to be okay; he's got a real chance because he can run."
"I have the utmost confidence in myself to perform at a high level, but three touchdowns? No one really expects to go in their first college football game playing like that and to score three touchdowns; I was confident in myself," Clement said.
Upon receiving the news, he got out his cellphone and called his parents Mike and Tracy.
"Mom was crying and everything. It was great," he said.
"When I came here, I knew I was going to have to grind and that was sort of the goal. Three touchdowns is a crazy accomplishment, especially for a first game, but that scholarship was the biggest thing for me," he added.
Clement admits earning a scholarship and proving people wrong was his No. 1 goal when he arrived at WVU. Now the goal has changed.
"Now that I've got it, it doesn't mean the job is done and the work is done," he noted.
Brown is seeking more consistency from the wide receivers in general, starting this Saturday night against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.
"I think our talent is good enough. Devin has played a lot of football and he will be back. I hope he's full go on Monday or Tuesday, but we've got to get him some help. Hudson showed (Saturday) that he can play, and we need some of those other guys step up and be ready to go," Brown concluded.
Saturday's sold-out Pitt game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ABC.
