TALLAHASSEE — Florida State’s two-touchdown victory over New Mexico State also showed two glaring concerns: An offensive line that struggled in pass protection and a third-down defense that was suspect.
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After just 60 minutes of football, it’s tough to know what is fixable and what is a team weakness. FSU’s coaches are optimistic, of course, about the ability to review the film, make corrections on the practice field and deliver a cleaner performance beginning on Labor Day against No. 19 SMU.
FSU defensive coordinator Tony White said he went to sleep frustrated despite allowing 47 rushing yards in a 34-17 win. What prompted the restless night was the Aggies converting 10 of 17 third-down plays (Trey Hedden connected on nine straight third-down pass plays).
“The secondary, there were a bunch of different combinations of guys in there,” White said. “We took Neo (Nehemiah Chandler) and moved him into the nickel. We took Ricky (Knight) and made sure he got his reps. It’s just guys being organic and working together and not seeing the same pictures. A lot of times when you put those groups together on the field, they know what each other is thinking so there’s not that much communication going on. There may be a thumb’s up or a blink.”
White felt that two veterans, rover Ashlynd Barker and safety K.J. Kirkland, knew the calls and assignments. But newcomers to nickel or safety like Chandler and Knight just didn’t have enough experience in the scheme on the practice field or in a game. The Seminoles had two guys on the same page, but the third wasn’t.
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“You put one new guy in there, and now all of a sudden, and you see it on film, you see guys turn around and like, ‘What’s going on? What’s this? What’s the check?’ And then he’s taking out the mouthpiece and the ball is snapped and now you got one half of the guys playing one thing and another side playing another thing,” White said.
There’s confidence in a resolution to the communication issues on defense. But on the offensive line, how much of the struggles were related to cohesion with four transfers? How much of it was just linemen not winning the 1-on-1 blocks?
Coach Mike Norvell has said in the preseason and after the opener that he’s not locked into a depth chart at any position, stating: “Competition is a beautiful thing.” That extends to the offensive line.
“If it’s consistently showing up (as a problem) then it’s time to make a change in-game, then we’ll do that,” Norvell said. “You take all of the things you see in practice, trying to put the best five guys out there.”
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