Cline Out for the Year With ACL Tear
Andy Backstrom (@andybackstrom)Publisher
Boston College starting right tackle Kevin Cline is out for the year with a torn ACL, according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.
Thamel also reported that BC left tackle Ozzy Trapilo won't play Saturday night against Maine and is "week-to-week" with a knee injury of his own.
This is what BC's starting five is expected to look like versus the Black Bears, per Thamel: redshirt freshman (and former preferred walk-on) Nick Thomas at left tackle, redshirt senior Finn Dirstine at left guard, redshirt freshman center Drew Kendall at center, redshirt sophomore Dwayne Allick (who converted to D-Line early last season before switching back to O-Line) at right guard and redshirt junior Jack Conley at right tackle.
Cline went down in the third quarter at Virginia Tech. He was replaced by Thomas, who was in for BC's lone touchdown drive of the game, where the Eagles went up-tempo.
Cline was a first-year starter in his third year with the team. The 6-foot-6, 314-pound Boca Raton, Florida, native redshirted the 2020 season. Last year, he was on the two-deep all season and played in nine games, primarily on special teams. He emerged as a starter this season after BC had to replace all five of its 2021 starters, including right guard Christian Mahogany.
Mahogany—initially NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.'s No. 2 guard prospect for 2023—tore his ACL in May and is expected to miss the entire season as well.
BC acquired one offensive lineman in the transfer portal this offseason: Lehigh's Christian Curatolo. Third-year head coach Jeff Hafley addressed the challenges of bolstering that position through the portal this week.
BC prides itself as "O-Line U." The program has had 15 of its offensive linemen drafted since 2000.
So far this season, however, the Eagles' depleted offensive line has been their Achilles' heel.
BC ranks dead last in the FBS in rushing offense (16.5 rushing yards per game), and the Eagles are tied for last in the ACC and 123rd nationally in sacks allowed (nine).
