101 Days of BC Football: Seth Betancourt, #67

A strong offensive line is the most notable attribute of any worthy Boston College football team. Eagles’ playmakers flourish when the line is performing like “O-Line U,” and we’ve had some respectable talent come in even recently. One of the young men they recruited to hold this line together was Seth Betancourt.

Betancourt, a sophomore right tackle from Riverside, New Jersey, was a member of the 2010 recruiting class. He played for St. Joseph’s Prep School in Philadelphia, where he was an All-State second-team lineman and, amongst other honors, was named to the Catholic All-Decade Team (ostensibly for Catholic high school football players in the region). Also, like several other Eagles players to follow, Betancount played in the Big 33 Football Classic. This resume got him three stars from scouting sites and offers from BCS schools such as Michigan State, West Virginia, and fellow ACC schools Duke and Virginia. According to Rivals, former special teams coach Mike Dawson recruited him.

He sat out the 2010 season as a redshirt, and made his BC debut in 2011. Betancourt did not get a great deal of playing time being on the second string, but his performance did not strike me as being of any particular note. He made it to the right tackle backup slot behind Emmett Cleary on the two-deep by the Miami game in November, but coming out of spring camp, Cleary was at left tackle, John Wetzel was at right, and redshirt freshman Dave Bowen supplanted Betancourt. I don’t recall any injury issues arising, so this could simply be a matter of Betancourt falling off the chart. There’s nothing ironclad about it as training camp is still weeks away, but it’s a striking development nevertheless.

At this point, it is unclear what Betancourt’s role will be on the team in 2012. I would imagine he’ll get playing time, and would have suspected he’d be on the two-deep, but at this stage, he is not.