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Time Traveler: Mountaineers' Cline goes from senior to junior
Robert Franklin Photo
Wide receiver Matt Cline, who is from Thomasville, is Appalachian State’s No. 1 receiver.
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Published: October 9, 2009
Matt Cline, Appalachian State's leading receiver through four games, recently got a demotion he welcomed.
He went from being a senior to being a junior, meaning he will have one more season to catch passes for the Mountaineers.
Cline learned last Friday that he will be granted an extra year of eligibility. He received a medical-hardship waiver from the NCAA for a back injury that sidelined him for all but three games in 2006, his first season. That is now considered his redshirt season.
"It's good news, definitely a relief," Cline said.
Cline, a 5-11, 180-pound slot receiver from Thomasville who played his senior high-school season at Glenn, has been a go-to guy for the Mountaineers this season. He has five catches in each of the past three games and leads the team with 18 catches overall.
"I feel like I'm off to a pretty decent start," Cline said. "I just want to keep improving."
Coach Jerry Moore said he couldn't be more pleased with Cline, a former walk-on who impressed coaches with his hard-nosed style of play from the start.
"I'd adopt him if I could," Moore said. "He's everything you want a player to be -- from how he handles his personal life to how he plays. He's a great role model.
"He's just a real diligent, hard-working kid. He's a guy that came here as a walk-on player that earned a scholarship.
"He's a real, real quiet kid. He seldom ever says anything. He just has great work ethic."
Cline has had plenty of work so far, feasting on short routes and making catches consistently. He provides contrast and complement to big-play receiver Brian Quick.
"He just works hard at what he does, and a lot of teams are sleeping on him right now," quarterback Armanti Edwards said. "We like to try to get them (Cline and slot receiver CoCo Hillary) the ball quick and let them go make something happen."
Cline said: "I mainly run a lot of quick flare routes, option routes and get a deep ball every now and then. But I do a lot blocking, too. We're going to run the ball a lot."
Blocking, Moore said, is an essential ingredient to Cline's value.
"He's turning into a terrific downfield blocker," Moore said. "When you're an option team like us, those wideouts have to be able to block. He's a great example to the rest of our wideouts, even in practice, for what he does blocking."
Cline said that one of his primary goals is to stay healthy, which he hasn't done much of in three seasons.
He pulled a hamstring in 2007 and again in 2008. "I was never really able to work my way into the rotation, it took such a long time to heal," Cline said. "Then I pulled the other hamstring during camp last season, and missed the first two games.
"I'm feeling pretty good now, other than being a little sore. After the beginning of last season, I was pretty healthy for the most part, and hopefully I won't have any more issues with injuries."
Cline played at East Davidson, then transferred to Glenn and played for his uncle Dickie Cline. "He had me playing everywhere," Matt Cline said. "He kind of helped develop me. I was playing quarterback at East Davidson, but I knew my future wasn't at quarterback. He was able to get me out there to run the ball, catch the ball, and that's mainly what I've been doing here."
Cline had one setback at Glenn, missing a few games to what he feared might end his hopes of playing college football.
"I was diagnosed with a heart condition, but it ended up not being what they thought it was," Cline said. "It kept me out a couple of games my senior year. It was a pretty big deal because I thought I wouldn't get to play football any more. It ended up being basically dehydration and fatigue. I was glad to get that behind me."
tbowman@wsjournal.com.
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