Boston College Athletics
Seven Football Players Earn All-ACC ACSMA Honors
December 01, 2014 | Football
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Four members of the Boston College football team were named to the 2014 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA) Team, the association announced on Monday. Three additional players earned honorable mention.
Graduate center Andy Gallik led the way with a spot on the offensive first-team. Freshman running back Jon Hilliman earned third-team honors, along with graduate tackle Seth Betancourt. On the defensive side of the ball, senior tackle Connor Wujciak earned third-team recognition.
Graduate offensive linemen Bobby Vardaro (guard) and Ian Silberman (tackle) earned honorable mention, along with senior linebacker Josh Keyes.
Betancourt, a 6-foot-6, 300-pound lineman from Riverside, N.J., has started every game at left tackle in 2014. A member of the offensive line that has helped the offense rank 13th in the nation in rush yards, he has also helped the backs rush for 100 yards in seven games this season. The O line allowed just 20 sacks through 12 games this season.
Gallik, a 6-foot-3, 304-pound Evergreen Park, Ill., native is a member of the media All-ACC Team for the second year in a row. In 2013, he earned second-team honors. He has been the Eagles' starting center for the last three years and was named to the preseason All-ACC team, the Remington Award Watch List for the nation's premier center, and Phil Steele's Midseason All-ACC Team. He is a member of BC offensive line that has allowed the rush game to flourish, ranking 13th in the nation with 251.8 yards/game. He earned ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors after the Eagles defeated then ninth-ranked Southern Cal as the Eagles rushed for 452 yards and five touchdowns.
Hilliman, a 6-foot, 215-pounder from Plainfield, N.J., is tied for second in the ACC with 12 rushing touchdowns, which also is tied for 10th on BC's single-season list. The rookie set the Eagles' freshman record for rushing attempts with 185, eclipsing the 2008 record set by Montel Harris. His 712 rushing yards is second on the team, averaging 59.3 yards per game. He tallied two touchdowns in five games in his first season at The Heights and at least one in seven of the final 10 games.
Keyes is a 6-foot-2, 223-pound linebacker from Ghent, N.Y., who has started every game this season for the Eagles at SAM linebacker. He is third on the team with 63 tackles and second with 43 solo stops. His 11.5 tackles for a loss of 53 yards is first among all Eagles. He is part of a BC defense that ranks fourth in the nation, allowing just 94.8 yards per game and has held opponents to under 100 rushing yards seven times this season. Keyes earned ACC Linebacker of the Week honors twice in 2014.
Vardaro, a 6-foot-5, 299-pound offensive lineman from North Reading, Mass., leads Boston College with 44 career starts. The offensive line helped the BC offense rank 13th in the nation in rushing yards and were one of only two ACC teams since 2000 to rush for over 400 yards in back-to-back games, as the Eagles recorded 452 yards against then No. 9 Southern California and tallied 413 the following week versus Maine. The offensive line has also allowed quarterback Tyler Murphy to be sacked just 20 times through 12 games in 2014 and did not allowed a sack on three different occasions.
Wujciak, the 6-foot-3, 304-pound nose tackle from West Caldwell, N.J., started every game this season for the Eagles. He is third on the team with 7.5 tackles for loss and has three sacks for a loss of 29 yards. He blocked a field goal at Virginia Tech that would have made it a one-point game going into half time; it was the second time he has blocked a field goal BC, as he did as a sophomore at Georgia Tech.
