MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Ryan Clarke almost ate his way back to Glen Burnie, Md., last year.

Almost partied his way back there, too.

"Made some bad choices," said Clarke, a redshirt freshman fullback. "Made a lot of bad choices last year."

Now though?

"My mind is right," Clarke said. "I'm changed, I really am."

Sure, Clarke is a beneficiary of those changes, but so, too, is the West Virginia offense, which may have found a steady fullback in this 6-foot, 239-pounder from the Baltimore area.

Last year at this time, only a few people -- most importantly Clarke and West Virginia coach Bill Stewart -- knew what to think about the future of the kid who was spending his first few months in Morgantown after constructing a dynamic career at DeMatha High School, the noted college prep school in Washington, D.C.-suburb of Hyattsville, Md., where he ran through and around people.

That's because Clarke's weight ballooned while he was a redshirt -- "was up to 264, biggest I've ever been," he said.

That's because he was influenced by the wrong people, partying way too much -- "and getting bad grades, just doing dumb things," he said.

That all changed after last football season when one, one-sided meeting got a message across to Clarke and his family.

"Coach Stewart talked to me, he sat down and talked to my parents, too," Clarke said. "It was basically like if I didn't refocus, if I didn't start doing the things I needed to do, well ... ."

Clarke's voice then trailed off. He didn't need to finish the sentence.

He knew that if he didn't change his ways, there probably wasn't a future for him in Morgantown.

Last Saturday, after a rededication to offseason conditioning, after shedding not just 25 pounds, but the acquaintances who were holding him back, there Clarke stood in the West Virginia backfield with the score tied, 3-3, against Liberty late in the first quarter.

His first college carry was a 2-yard touchdown run.

It was vintage, bullish fullback stuff.

"I knew the play call, I knew I was going to get the ball," he said. "And when I got in the end zone, I was like, 'This is what I am here for, this is my welcome to college football.' For it to be my first carry, it was a great, great feeling."

His other carry Saturday was a 3-yard run.

Two touches, two opportunities, two positives, where last year there wasn't a lot positive going on with him.

Clarke understands that in an offense that largely employs a single-back look, when he is summoned into the game, he will be called upon mostly to block this season, will do much of the dirty work clearing lanes for tailback Noel Devine.

When Clarke is handed the ball, though, "my carries are real important when I get them, I know that," he said. "I just try to push and get as many yards as I can. When they put me in on those situations, they are obviously depending on me to come through."

Indeed, they are.

"He is getting better," Stewart said. "It is all ahead of him, but he has a chance to be a pretty good football player."

A chance ahead of him because of what Clarke did that's now, as he said, all behind him.