Without the proper context, the season-opening performance of Florida State’s offensive line would not be very impressive.
In a 24-7 loss to Alabama on Saturday, the Seminoles gained just 250 yards of offense, they scored only seven points, they rushed for merely 40 total yards, and they surrendered three sacks.
The context, however, paints a more complete picture. The ‘Noles were going up against an Alabama defense that led the nation in total defense, rushing defense and sacks last season, and again is expected to be one of the top units in the country. And that FSU offensive line, meanwhile, is coming off of a very difficult season; one that saw it surrender 36 sacks in 13 games.
So, while the Seminoles’ front-five was not necessarily ecstatic about its 2017 debut, the group was far from dejected.
“We did good against Alabama,” said junior left tackle Derrick Kelly, who made his first career start at that position on Saturday night. “I’m definitely proud of us. I feel like we took a step forward. And I feel like there’s always room for improvement.”
Heading into the Alabama game, Kelly’s potential might have faced the most scrutiny from fans and media. During an injury-plagued first three seasons on campus, he appeared in 11 total games – six in 2015 and five last season. He had never played left tackle.
There also were concerns about junior center Alec Eberle, who struggled at times last season and was coming off of major hip surgery. And of the other three starters – right tackle Rick Leonard and guards Cole Minshew and Landon Dickerson – none had started more than seven games.
But after reviewing film of the season opener, FSU coach Jimbo Fisher and others said the group held its own with Alabama’s highly touted defensive front.
"We definitely made a lot of errors that need to be fixed,” Dickerson said. “But I believe we made a lot of improvement from where we were.”
The greatest improvement was in pass-protection. Although starting quarterback Deondre Francois was sacked three times, only one of those was a result of an offensive lineman getting beaten by a four-man rush.
The first one occurred when Alabama linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton came free on a delayed blitz. The last one came when defensive back Ronnie Harrison blitzed from the back side and ran Francois down from behind. The other occurred early in the third quarter when Tide lineman Raekwon Davis beat right guard Cole Minshew with a nice move to the inside.
While the overall pass-protection could have been better on those blitzes, Fisher noted that some of that responsibility also fell on Francois and his receivers for not hitting their hot reads.
