Early Life and College Career
Cline grew up in Fredericktown, Ohio and attended the local Fredericktown High School, where he played on the football team as a back. In a 1942 game against Mount Gilead High School, he scored seven touchdowns and kicked two extra points, scoring 44 total points in a 79–6 victory.
After graduating from high school, Cline attended Ohio State University and played on the school's football team starting as a freshman in 1944. Although he was overshadowed by teammate Les Horvath, who won the Heisman Trophy that year, Cline was the team's starting fullback and ran for 221 yards on 65 carries, scoring 39 points. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Conference championship with an undefeated 9-0 record and were ranked second in the country in the AP Poll.
The 1945 season was the most productive of Cline's college career. He led the Big Ten in rushing with 936 yards, at the time a school record, and scored nine touchdowns. Cline rushed for 229 yards in a November game against the University of Pittsburgh, setting an Ohio State single-game record that stood for 27 years until Archie Griffin broke it in 1972. The Buckeyes finished with a 7–2 record for third in the Big Ten and were ranked 12th in the AP Poll. Cline was awarded the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, given to the most valuable player in the Big Ten. He was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press and a third-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America.
Cline was accepted for military service before the 1945 season, but was not called up for duty until the following February. Cline, who had been passed over by the U.S. Army twice because of a punctured ear drum, was sent to Camp Atterbury, a training base in Indiana. When the war ended, Cline returned to Ohio State in 1947 and rushed for 332 yards and two touchdowns in eight games. The team finished the season with a 2–6–1 record.
Read more about this topic: Ollie Cline
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