FSU football: 5 areas of improvement needed after Notre Dame game

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 01: Florida State Seminoles fans during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Gammons/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 01: Florida State Seminoles fans during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Gammons/Getty Images) /
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Pass Protection

This problem has been an issue for years but came from a new area on Sunday night. Usually, FSU’s pass protection breakdowns occur from the tackle positions, but they held up for the most part against Notre Dame.

Most of the pressure allowed came up the middle from stunts or a linebacker blitzing a gap. The pressure wasn’t as bad as it seemed because Jordan Travis got happy feet and ran from a good pocket a few times.

However, he had good reason not to trust his offensive line early because of how fast Notre Dame was in the backfield on a few plays. This unit doesn’t have much continuity because they didn’t get a chance to practice much during fall camp.

As I mentioned, Maurice Smith is trying to recover from an injury, and a couple of other players got rolled up during Sunday’s game.

The depth chart lists the same as it did for the Notre Dame game, so we’ll see if the same unit gets to play together against Jacksonville State.

If so, I need to see the guards playing better in pass pro while continuing to see the line opening holes in the run game as they did in the second half against Notre Dame.