Hudson Clement didn't get much warning before the game that changed his career.
On September 9, 2023, West Virginia was hosting Duquesne. Shortly before kickoff, the Mountaineers ruled out receiver Devin Carter with a foot injury, and with Traylon Ray already shut down for the week, receivers coach Bilal Marshall turned to Clement, a redshirt freshman walk-on from Martinsburg, to start at the Z receiver spot.
"He didn't tell me ahead of time," Clement told WBOY's Gold and Blue Nation . "I think I like it better that way."
He finished with five catches for 177 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-17 win. Afterward, head coach Neal Brown gathered the team in the locker room with a surprise: the walk-on had earned a scholarship. Clement called his parents, and according to Gold and Blue Nation, there were tears.
That has always been the deal with Clement. Coming out of Martinsburg High School, where he won the 2021 Randy Moss Award as the state's top receiver after an 87-catch, 1,709-yard, 23-touchdown senior season, his choices came down to Division II Shepherd or walking on at West Virginia, per The Champaign Room . He bet on himself, and it paid off.
A month after Duquesne, he found himself at the center of a wild finish at Houston. Facing 4th-and-10, Garrett Greene hit Clement for a 50-yard touchdown that put West Virginia up four with 12 seconds left. Houston won anyway, 41-39, on a tipped Hail Mary as time expired, but Clement had put his team in position to steal it.
He finished 2023 with 22 catches for 480 yards and four touchdowns. Clement also averaged a ridiculous 21.8 yards per catch. In 2024, he led West Virginia with 51 catches, 741 yards, and five touchdowns, and his final game as a Mountaineer was one of his biggest: 11 catches for 166 yards and two scores in a 42-37 Frisco Bowl loss to Memphis.
Three days after that bowl game, Clement entered the transfer portal. Two weeks later, he signed with Illinois, and plenty of West Virginia fans let him hear about it. Clement didn't stay quiet.
"Never chased a bag always chased better opportunities," he wrote in response.
Part of the pull was family. Illinois also offered his younger brother, Murphy, a former Gatorade West Virginia Football Player of the Year, his first Division I scholarship.
"Coach B is really family-oriented, and when they did that I knew it was a done deal," Clement told The Champaign Room.
Then the expectations started piling up. PFF College ranked him the second-highest-graded receiver in the offseason transfer class. CBS Sports labeled him Illinois' breakout player everybody needed to know, and Illini Inquirer's Jeremy Werner told CBS, "He is the guy that is proven, that I think Luke Altmyer will have the trust in." With Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin gone, some saw Clement as Illinois' next No. 1 receiver.
It didn't happen, at least not right away .
Through Illinois' first eight games of 2025, Clement had 21 catches for 197 yards and no touchdowns. The receiver, who averaged 21.8 yards per catch as a redshirt freshman, was averaging under 10 yards per catch.
He finally broke through against Rutgers on November 1, hauling in an over-the-shoulder touchdown, his first as an Illini, as part of a five-catch, 84-yard day.
Two weeks later, he caught two touchdowns against Maryland. Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. noticed the change, telling The News-Gazette, "I think his natural abilities are starting to be unlocked, and it's a good thing."
Still, Clement finished the year with 36 catches for 454 yards and three touchdowns, fewer catches and fewer yards than in his final season at West Virginia. He didn't pretend otherwise.
"It took me a little bit to get going last year," he told The News-Gazette's Bob Asmussen before this season's opener.
This season started with another hurdle. Clement spent part of fall camp in a green no-contact jersey after reportedly suffering a concussion in drills. Receivers coach Justin Stepp told WCIA the staff was "being extra cautious, making sure he doesn't get hit across the middle and stuff like that."
"I can't control injury stuff," Clement told Asmussen.
He was cleared in time for the opener, but the start looked a lot like last year: three catches for 26 yards against UAB, then four for 45 against Duke.
Meanwhile, Collin Dixon was busy becoming the story of the season. Dixon caught two touchdowns in the opener and went for 11 catches, 166 yards, and three scores against Duke. Through seven games, he has 54 catches for 678 yards and 10 touchdowns. That leads the Big Ten in receptions and ties Illinois' single-season record for receiving touchdowns.
Somewhere in there, Clement started looking like himself again.
He caught five passes for 69 yards against Southern Illinois. A week later, in a 42-19 loss at No. 7 Ohio State, he caught five passes for a team-high 87 yards. He followed that with four for 72 against Purdue.
Then came East Lansing.
Katin Houser broke his hand in the third quarter against Michigan State, and Illinois handed the offense to true freshman Michael Clayton II, who had never thrown a college pass. Clayton's second career completion went to Clement for 24 yards. In overtime, on the very first snap, he found him again for a 25-yard touchdown. Michigan State answered with a touchdown of its own, went for two and the win, and saw the pass fall incomplete. Illinois won 38-37.
"I think the nickel came in, got a little nosy, and Mike threw a great ball," Clement told The Daily Illini.
He finished with six catches for 105 yards, his first 100-yard game since that Frisco Bowl and his first at Illinois. He also received nothing but praise for his new quarterback.
"He came out very composed, did what he had to do," Clement said.
That's what Clement has become this year. He's not the No. 1 option, and he doesn't need to be. He's something Illinois needs just as much right now: a veteran a young quarterback can trust. Over his four games before Oregon, he averaged five catches and more than 80 yards, and he entered that game with a reception in 33 straight games. With Dixon commanding as much attention as he does, a second receiver who has done this before matters, especially with a freshman under center.
The Oregon game didn't go according to script. Clayton made his first career start in a 21-10 win over the Ducks, and Dixon made the catch of the day, a diving 23-yard touchdown that left Bielema saying, "I have no idea how Collin made that catch."
Clement, though, didn't record a catch, ending his streak at 33 games. He also wasn't among the injuries Bielema addressed in his update early in Maryland week.
Illinois is 4-3 and 2-2 in the Big Ten heading to Maryland on Saturday. The last time Clement saw the Terrapins, he caught two touchdowns. If Saturday looks more like the month before Oregon than Oregon itself, Illinois' freshman quarterback will have exactly what he needs: a receiver who has been here before.
This article was originally published on www.writingillini.com as Hudson Clement has become the safety net Illinois football has needed .
