Living Up to a Name

Humbly alluding the spotlight, the men in the trenches on Boston College's offensive line have one again soared to be one of the best units in the country.

Going toe-to-toe against some of the nation's best defenders, while providing time for an inexperienced skill group to develop and become potent has allowed the Eagles a chance to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl and again stake their claim for a moniker that has suited the program well over the years.

"We're known as being "Offensive Line University," so we try to go out and show that every time, and show the hard work that we put in in practice, day-in and day-out," said junior left tackle Aaron Monteiro. "We have a certain badge of honor that we wear in the games."

The group heads to the Bronx having yielded just 13 sacks in 12 games this season, six of which they allowed none.

The 1.04 sacks-against-per-game on the year is the 11^th lowest average in the nation.

They have also proved to be as disciplined as one might expect, seeing just 11 flags thrown against them, while the team as a whole had just 41 penalties called against them, the second fewest in the country.

In turn, their efforts allowed the likes of redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Brown and breakout freshman running back AJ Dillon find their footing and excel as the season progressed.

"As a running back, you need that offensive line no matter how good you are," said Dillon whose BC freshman record 1,432 rushing yards highlighted the 24^th best rush offense in the country. "They're pushing us to work harder because we know how hard they're working. So, we want to do better, we want to break off longer runs and get them off the field early…I can't do anything without them. When I started to do better towards the second half of the season, they were also getting a lot better each week too. It's all a credit to them."

Even in the face of losing senior captain and center Jon Baker for the season in the opening game versus Northern Illinois, the unit never wavered, inserting true freshman Ben Petrula at a position he had never played previously.

"Ben's just a freak," junior tackle Chris Lindstrom said. "It's unbelievable what he's doing. To play the position he's playing with the guys he has to go against and doing the job he did, he's an amazing player."

To the left of Petrula stands Monteiro and junior guard Sam Schmal, a 6"7" duo that cast a much larger shadow than that of the pair of sluggers who will take to the Yankee Stadium turf in spring.

On the right is Lindstrom, playing tackle for the first time in his career, alongside sophomore John Phillips who has appeared in all but two games in his time at The Heights.

To a man, each is quick to credit the work of fifth-year run coordinator-offensive line coach Justin Frye and their willingness to match what he puts into the program.

"Coach Frye is unbelievable," Lindstrom said. "We have such a loving relationship with each one of our guys and coach. He's one of us, and we're his guys. It's pretty cool to see him pushing us on the field and working all the technique. He's an unbelievable coach."

"He's just a hard-working coach," Monteiro added. "He's the one that puts us in these great positions. He really cares about us and he takes the time to get us in the right plays and get us working on the right stuff in practice. He's our leader. He's the one that motivates us and pushes us."

While the game of football continues to showcase the flash and brilliance of the skill players – who could ignore Dillon shedding that Louisville defender for a 75-yard touchdown run – it's been the staunch efforts of the offensive line that continue to set the tone for the Eagles successes on offense.

From the likes of Tom Nalen to Damien Woody to Marc Colombo to Anthony Castonzo, and countless other former Eagles who have toed the line in maroon and gold, this current crop of behemoth blockers fit the bill that has suited those in the past so nicely.

"BC being "Offensive Line U," I grew up being around it in Dudley, so I always dreamed of being an offensive lineman at Boston College," Lindstrom said. "You take pride in that coming to practice every day. When you come into practice knowing you're at this place, there's a standard that you have to uphold. The guys, we have a standard set for each other and we don't let each other not reach that standard, and we're always trying to raise it to better ourselves."

Boston College Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Jon Baker

Anthony Brown

AJ Dillon

Chris Lindstrom

Aaron Monteiro

Ben Petrula

John Phillips

Sam Schmal

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