Quotebook and video: Alex Atkins on Travis, OL, Louisville

Published Sep 13, 2022

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

FSU offensive coordinator / offensive line coach Alex Atkins discusses Jordan Travis, what he saw from the LSU game on film, right tackle Jazston Turnetine and his thoughts on Louisville's defense.

On the challenges of facing Louisville's 3-4 front:

"They are very athletic. They know how to avoid blocks and do a good job of block destruction, so we've got to do a good job of being in-balance. They are going to move a bunch, twice a bunch, they are going to showcase it all. So we've just got to be ready to play on our feet, play with balance, and have eye discipline."

On Louisville struggling against the run:

"I think struggle is a tough word, going into two games. I mean, historically, they've done a great job against the run. [Louisville defensive coordinator] Coach [Bryan] Brown does good job of playing the run, getting those heads down there, and they tackle well. I think they've got a couple of new guys and with a limitation of practice, sometime tackling - they've improved greatly from game one to two. So I expect them to get that problem fixed really against us pretty quickly."

What did he like / not like from the offense in reviewing LSU game:

"Of course, everything is critical. The emotion comes from a win and a loss, but the reality is the reality and we've still got stuff to clean up whether you win or lose, and we had a bunch. So it just more of the mentality to come back to work to correct mistakes. You've got to get better and keep stressing, so you are playing the best ball as the season goes along. So that's the goal, just to get the correction, get the corrections, and play your best ball as we progress through the season and become a more experienced group. But what I did like was the fight. I've been on that sideline a couple of times and seeing those eyes not look the way they need to look in those kinds of games and I thought the eyes looked like they needed to look for us to go out there and keep swinging. So, you know, if we went overtime, same deal. I thought our guys were locked in and ready to do whatever we had to do."

What area does the offense need to take the biggest step forward regarding:

"Finishing in the red zone. You know, winning the short yardage. Finishing in the red zone is something. We've got to do a good job of getting touchdowns. So we focused on that a lot. And we got to put a lot of pride into it. We've got to finish."