The expectation for the 2024 Florida State football team was that the run game was going to be the offense's bread and butter.
The recipe was definitely that an offensive line loaded with options and experience and a running back room stuffed to the gills with versatile playmaking ability would make things easy on the rest of the Seminoles' offense.
That wasn't even close to the reality of the situation. Quite the opposite, in fact. The Seminoles were 132nd out of 134 FBS teams nationally in yards per carry (2.85) and 129th in rushing yards per game (89.92).
Lawrance Toafili was FSU's leading rusher on the year with 456 yards and three rushing touchdowns. It was the first season since 1967 that FSU didn't have at least one 500-yard rusher.
There are many reasons why bringing in former Auburn and UCF head coach Gus Malzahn as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator makes sense. He's well-regarded as an offensive mind and has well over a decade of experience in high-level college football as an offensive playcaller and recruiter.
Perhaps the single biggest reason? Malzahn's offenses have the reputation for running the ball as well as anyone.
In Malzahn's four years atop the UCF program from 2021-24, the Knights ranked in the top 20 nationally in yards per carry all four years and in the top 10 each of the last two years.
Even the 2024 UCF team, which went 4-8, ranked fifth nationally in yards per carry (5.61) and rushing yards per game (228.3), anchored in large part by senior running back RJ Harvey's 1,416 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns.
Malzahn admitted in his introductory press conference that he hasn't really schematically evaluated why FSU struggled so mightily to run the ball this season. More of his time has been spent on evaluating individuals on the FSU roster and transfer portal prospects.
But considering the offensive coordinator's track record with successful run games and tempo offenses, he may be exactly what FSU's offense needs in 2025 to make sure the numerous fatal flaws of the 2024 run game stay in the past.
"I'm a big believer you've got to run the football downhill," Malzahn said. "It makes everything better as far as pass protection, better on the quarterback, everything. I think the big thing is just the emphasis of the downhill run game and being committed to it. And we'll get that done."
Another new face that should immediately help FSU's run game -- and the offense as a whole -- is new offensive line coach Herb Hand. Hand previously worked with Malzahn at Auburn (2016-17) and UCF (2021-24), but also made stops at a number of other top programs like Penn State and Texas as an offensive line coach.
Having those experiences, coaching at some of the top programs with access to some of the best talent and coaching multiple times under Malzahn has taught Hand the importance of the run game as a tone-setter of sorts for the offense as a whole.
"There's going to be a commitment to the run game. That's who we are, that's who we've been," Hand said. "Now we’re also not going to pound face against the wall. If the defense has 13 guys in the box, you have to have answers. That's always the challenge as well. And that's where you have to be able to use the run to set up the pass game with our vertical pass game, our RPOs, things of that nature and we could take advantage of matchups on the outside. But it starts with being able to run the football."
That inability to run the football was a massive part of FSU's offensive struggles this past season. It severely hindered a receiver room that wasn't expected to be a strength of the team and made a group of quarterbacks who weren't ready to put the offense on their backs do exactly that while also being under constant duress.
FSU finished the regular season dead last nationally in sacks allowed (49), more than the 45 it had allowed in the prior two seasons combined. The lack of fear that FSU's run game created in opposing defenses certainly contributed to that number skyrocketing as the season progressed.
While Hand is evaluating the film of the players he's inheriting up front on the FSU roster, he isn't spending much time focusing on what went wrong in 2024. He's focused on moving forward.
"We're going to start building this from the ground up so I'm not concerned with what's happened in the past. I'm really not. The past is the past for a reason," Hand said. "Now do we have to learn from the past? Sure. Because if you don't learn from history, you're doomed to repeat it, right? At least that's what they say."
We saw what former FSU offensive line coach Alex Atkins was able to do in his first few seasons with the Seminoles, rebuilding a unit that had little hope into one that was, unfortunately, very overhyped entering the 2024 season.
Because of that drop-off, Hand has a similar fix he needs to make as he takes over the unit this offseason. That makes his goal of what he hopes to accomplish with his 2025 offensive line a fairly basic one.
"Our goal up front is put hats on hats. It starts with our communication progression and making sure that we're targeting the right hats. You got to put hats on hats, man," Hand said. "When you do that, good things happen. That's what we're committed to, that's who we are, that's our DNA. We've had great (running) backs that have been beneficiaries of putting hats on hats up front and that's what it’s going to start with."
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