Veteran offensive linemen address the state of the unit

Saturday against Syracuse is about as poor a performance we have seen from an FSU offensive line. A number of factors have contributed to the dilapidated state of the unit and Bud Elliot identified and broke down everything that led to the disaster we saw in Syracuse. So where do you go from here? Well, according to veteran offensive lineman Cole Minshew, back to basics.

“there is definitely positives to build on,” Minshew said. “We did some good things in that game, but they were obviously overshadowed by the bad things we did. There is stuff we can build off of. We just got to go back to the basics and learn the fundamentals and somehow we got away from what we started doing in camp and everything. We just have to go back to the basics.”

There is a ton of inexperience on the line, and a game like Saturday’s can destroy the confidence of the guys up front if they let it. Minshew talked about the importance of helping along less experienced members of the line so that they may grow as a unit as the season progresses.

“I tell the inexperienced guys that I will always be there for them,” Minshew said. “If they don’t know what to do on a play then look at me, if they aren’t sure on anything to just ask me. That guy at one time was inexperienced too, you have to be prepared off the field for a game and if they aren’t, it’s not going to turn out the way they want too. I just try to make sure I am there for them and help them with the preparation off the field before they get to the game so that they feel comfortable.”

Another veteran on the line, center Alec Eberle, reiterated what Minshew said. Only three games in to the season, it is important not to get discouraged and keep you head in the game.

“We’ve got nine more games of the regular season,” Eberle said. “That’s a lot of football left. A lot of my older buddies from the team keep texting me saying to ‘keep those guys up, a lot of ball left’ and I know it. If you check out now, there’s no point in playing football. Right now, we have to come together, be a team, be a family, buckle down and go to work. We’ve got nine times to prove ourselves the rest of this year. Let’s show this country what we’re made of.”

‘Noles fans will hope that sentiment is felt throughout the team. According to Eberle, that seems to be the case. With a disappointing start to the season, the players held a players only meeting, and while he wouldn’t divulge what was said, the senior center thinks the meeting did it’s job as everyone came to Sunday practice with a good mindset.

“I’m definitely impressed [with] Sunday,” Eberle said. “Practice, we came out here and everyone had a good mindset. It was definitely one of our good practices for a Sunday and honestly, the focus was their the effort was there. People were there to get better and they were locked in”

Eberle continued.

“I think everybody kind of came back down and we’re getting our feet back in the dirt ready to go, ready to get it done and get back to where we were during fall. Kind of get that mentality back and get the vibe we had going. We kind of lost that vibe. We hope to get it back and carry it on into Saturday.”