CORVALLIS — Darrius Clemons slipped into the middle of the zone, snatched a bullet pass, weaved his way through the heart of the Oregon State Beavers’ defense and sprinted down the sideline at Prothro Field.

A whistle rang out, signaling the end of the play in an 11-on-11 drill Thursday during the Beavers’ second day of fall camp, and defenders stopped pursuing Clemons.

But he kept running. And running. And running. All the way into the end zone, where, shortly before he reached paydirt, Clemons flashed a wide smile behind his face mask.

After a frustrating, injury-riddled start to a college career that was supposed to feature greatness, Clemons finally has reason to beam. He’s back in Oregon. He’s in line to fill a prominent role. And he’s injury-free.

“It’s been really good,” Clemons said of his transfer from Michigan. “I felt like (coming to Oregon State) was going to be best for me. I prayed on it. I asked people I trust and they felt the same way. So this is where I’m at now. I’m going to give everything I’ve got.”

As position battles rage across the football field this fall in Corvallis, the fight for a starting job at wide receiver figures to be among the most hotly contested. And the redshirt junior from Westview High School is the most high-profile player in the mix to replace three departed starters.

He brings star power (four of them, according to his prep recruiting rankings). He brings genetics (his father Larry played at the University of Florida). He brings size (6-foot-3, 211 pounds) and speed (he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash in high school). And he brings a winning pedigree (he played on Michigan’s national championship team).

But more than anything, Clemons brings untapped potential.

He signed with Michigan out of high school after luring scholarship offers from more than three dozen schools, including the likes of Penn State, USC and Auburn. And when he corralled a 35-yard touchdown pass in the 2022 spring game — just weeks after enrolling early at Michigan — Clemons looked like he was destined to make an immediate impact. But he never bloomed in Ann Arbor, finishing with just four catches and 40 receiving yards in two seasons, the second of which was hindered by an injury.

“I wasn’t the player I wanted to be at Michigan, just because of some injuries and stuff,” Clemons said. “And I feel like I didn’t show the coaches there who I wanted to be. I kind of wanted a fresh start.”

So the day after the Wolverines defeated Washington to win the 2023 national championship, Clemons entered the transfer portal. Soon thereafter a familiar face reached out: Kefense Hynson, Oregon State’s wide receiver coach and passing game coordinator.

Hynson was the first college coach to offer Clemons a scholarship — during his freshman year at Westview — and the two always shared a unique bond. Hynson persuaded Clemons to visit Corvallis, and within days, he was in town on a weekend recruiting trip. It just happened to come during a brutal winter snowstorm that closed campus, forcing Clemons to focus exclusively on football.

He spent his time getting to know Oregon State coaches and hanging out with his host, wide receiver Trent Walker, who went to Beaverton High School, competed against Clemons growing up and trained alongside him during COVID.

Hours after the visit — just five days after he entered the portal — Clemons committed to the Beavers.

“We kind of just chilled,” Walker said of the weather-hindered visit. “We just felt like we were back in high school again, it felt like COVID all over again. We were just talking, chillin’ on the couch and whatnot. I didn’t really have to pitch much, he loved it here.”

But Clemons also was still dealing with that injury from Michigan, and it lingered all the way through spring practice. As his new teammates worked to learn offensive coordinator Ryan Gunderson’s new system, Clemons was forced to watch from the sideline, rehabilitate in the training room and follow Hynson like a hawk.

Hynson had delivered a simple message to Clemons before spring — even though you’re not playing, this is no time to “chill out and relax and get behind” — and Clemons didn’t forget it.

“Honestly, I felt the spring was a blessing in disguise,” Clemons said. “I got to kind of sit back and be, like, Coach Fense’s little sidekick. I got to learn (the offense) better from other people’s mistakes … just making sure every day I was learning stuff, watching film with the guys and learning from their mistakes.”

Along the way, as he spent countless hours in the Oregon State football offices watching film, studying Gunderson’s offense and building relationships with teammates, Clemons emerged as a leader.

In separate conversations this week, coach Trent Bray and Walker called Clemons a “natural leader.”

“The football part has yet to be seen, because he’s only practiced (twice),” Bray said. “He didn’t practice all spring. But from a leadership standpoint, his work ethic, how much he studies — he’s always in the building — he brings a ton.”

Big plays have been few and far between over the first two plays of camp, as Clemons works to catch up after missing the spring. He admitted Thursday that he feels “a step behind.”

But the Beavers expect Clemons to assimilate quickly, setting up more chances to see that smile he flashed heading into the end zone on Thursday.

“He’s a big body, he’s one of the stronger guys on the team and he can really run,” Gunderson said. “He’s a really smart guy. He’s very conscientious. He studies. But it’s kind of irreplaceable, the reps that you actually get and going in there doing it live, making the mistakes and fixing them. But he’s definitely a different piece. It’s like a spice cabinet. You’ve got to have different stuff. You can’t just throw salt and pepper at everything.

“He’s a different flavor for us and we will use him.”