After several early season changes, Florida State appeared to have settled the right side of its offensive line with guard Landon Dickerson and tackle Brock Ruble. Then came the struggles in pass protection, and then came the injuries.
Dickerson, a freshman, sustained a season-ending ACL tear two weeks ago. His injury brought about the return of redshirt junior Wilson Bell, who has started the last two games against North Carolina State and Boston College.
Dickerson and Ruble struggled at times when they were paired together, and Bell appears to have brought some stability to the situation. Now, Ruble is out of the picture as well ... at least for now.
After Ruble struggled mightily this past Saturday against BC defensive end Harold Landry, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher revealed that Ruble was hampered by a groin/hip injury. And that has prompted the return of converted defensive end Rick Leonard, who started the first three games of the season at right tackle.
Leonard struggled earlier this season, but he came in and performed well in the second half Saturday. And Fisher said Monday that he will take over at the position, at least until Ruble is healthy.
"He's been practicing real well. Just played his tail off," Fisher said of Leonard's improvement since he played earlier this season. "He was ready to play, but we had a good continuity going so we didn't do it. But Brock hadn't been struggling like that ... [Landry] made everybody struggle."
Landry finished with two of the Eagles' four sacks, despite FSU cruising to a 45-7 win.
