Solid start turns into 'frightening' end for FSU's offensive line

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ATLANTA -- This was Alec Eberle's vantage point and what he remembers seeing.

All Alabama did was come out in a bear front, he said. Three defensive tackles attack the center and the guards, while two defensive ends rush the offensive tackles from the edge.

It forces one-on-one battles in what's a pseudo, winner-take-all scenario. Florida State's offensive line rehearsed what to expect against bear fronts all last week leading up to its Saturday game against Alabama.

Eberle, a redshirt junior center, said Seminoles offensive line coach Rick Trickett prepared the group for how to handle the look. But when the Tide used the scheme on a late third-and-four midway through the fourth quarter, they broke through to reach redshirt sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois. One of the players on the line dropped back in coverage, and safety Ronnie Harrison came free on a blitz.

Francois hurt his left knee, was taken off the field and carted off in a cast. An official diagnosis nor timeline has been given yet, but there's little reason to expect he'll return any time soon.

No. 3 FSU saw its new-look offensive line put up a fight against No. 1 Alabama, even if it was in a 24-7 loss in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

For all the line did well, there's still going to be a focus on one particular play.

"You always take it seriously. Any time one of your teammates is down on the ground, yeah, [taking it] personally, of course, that's why I stood next to him," said Eberle, a two-year starter. "That's my quarterback. I stood next to him when he's down on the ground. That's why an offensive lineman is by his side the whole time. That's your quarterback on the ground.

"Of course, that's our guy. I told my teammates, I told my O-Line before the season started before the first game, I said, 'Any time this quarterback gets on the ground, it's our fault. OK? There's no reason he should ever be on the ground."

Eberle continued by saying Francois was on the "ground enough" last season.