All signs point to Seth Collins wanting to play quarterback, and that was no longer going to happen at Oregon State.

So instead of filling a multi-dimensional offensive role for the Beavers in 2016 and beyond, Collins has opted to transfer, OSU announced Friday.

"I thank Oregon State for a great year," Collins said in a release (attempts to reach his family Friday were unsuccessful). "But it is in my best interest to pursue my education and football somewhere else."

And thus concludes a brief stint for Collins in Corvallis that was dazzling at times and inconsistent at others.

He wowed with his electrifying athleticism and fiery demeanor as a true freshman, hurdling his own teammate in the Beavers' spring game and doing the same against a defender in a season opener that won him the starting job.

He showed flashes of potential but could also become erratic, particularly with his arm, completing 52.2 percent of his passes.

He missed a month with a knee injury, before triumphantly returning as a Jack of All Trades in the Civil War as the Beavers staged a breakout performance on offense.

He ultimately finished his only Beavers season as the team's leading rusher and passer, compiling 580 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground and 936 yards, six touchdowns and four interceptions through the air in eight games.

The way Collins arrived at OSU foreshadowed his whirlwind career. After originally committing to San Jose State after playing at three San Diego-area high schools, Collins received a late scholarship offer from OSU when first-year coach Gary Andersen brought a spread offense that requires a mobile quarterback. It was Collins' only opportunity to play quarterback at a Power 5 school, and would allow him to enroll early and compete immediately during spring practice.

Collins made the cut when a complex quarterback derby narrowed from seven contenders to three during those 15 workouts. By the end of fall camp, Collins and Marcus McMaryion were set to split reps in the season opener against Weber State. But when Collins ran for 152 yards and passed for 92 yards and two touchdowns, Andersen named Collins the starter moving forward.

Collins showed promise in the early season, most notably in passing for 275 yards against Stanford in OSU's Pac-12 opener. But over the Beavers' next two games -- both blowout road losses to Arizona and Washington State -- Collins completed just 46.2 percent of his throws.

By the next week against Colorado, Collins lined up with fellow signal-caller Nick Mitchell in the backfield on the game's first offensive play, then watched from the sideline as Mitchell directed the Beavers on their final four drives of a 17-13 loss. The next week, Andersen said the Beavers planned to continue using both quarterbacks in various situations.

But that never materialized, after Collins suffered a "freak" injury when he hyperextended his knee while backpedaling before practice on the Thursday prior to OSU's Halloween game at Utah.

Collins missed the next four games, with Andersen indicating in November that the quarterback would miss the rest of the season. Yet Collins returned for the Civil War -- but had been assigned to a new role by coaches -- lining up at wide receiver, running back and quarterback throughout the game and accounting for 39 rushing yards and three touchdowns to go with 45 passing yards during an unexpectedly wild 52-42 defeat that featured a furious second-half rally by the Beavers.

A few weeks later, Beavers co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kevin McGiven said that type of role would fit both Collins and OSU's offense best moving forward. Collins went home for the holiday break, then returned to campus for the start of winter quarter and offseason workouts on Jan. 4. He was at the Valley Football Center as recently as Thursday, sources close to the program say, before OSU announced that Collins had decided to move on.

Collins' next stop was not immediately known. Due to NCAA rules, Collins will be required to to sit out the 2016 season if he opts to transfer to a Football Bowl Subdivision school but could play right away at a lower-division program. OSU, meanwhile, will move forward with Utah State transfer Darell Garrettson (who sat out 2015 because of NCAA transfer rules), McMaryion and incoming freshman Mason Moran competing for the Beavers' starting job in 2016. Mitchell has also departed OSU, transferring to Division II's Dixie State in Utah last month.

And wherever Collins ends up, all signs point to him working to prove he can continue as a college football quarterback. Because that was no longer going to happen at OSU.

-- Gina Mizell | @ginamizell