Alex Atkins reveals what allowed for Florida State's late-season rushing success

Florida State‘s rushing attack was not the strength of their offense at the start of the season, but week after week the Seminoles steadily improved on the ground and ended the season as the ACC’s top rushing offense. Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins explained why the Seminoles’ run game was so strong to close out the season as the Seminoles prepare for the Cheez-It Bowl against Oklahoma.

“It starts with the quarterback position, and run game is all about services, looks, safety rotations, and the quarterback has done a good job of handling the run checks. Getting us in good plays, getting us in the best possible looks, and not just running plays in a bad look, so that’s the first thing is Jordan (Travis),” Atkins said.

Travis may have been a contributing factor pre-snap to the Seminoles success in the run game, but was also a factor post-snap, being one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the nation. Travis rushed for 367 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground this season, offering an extra reliable and dynamic rushing threat out of the backfield all season for the Seminoles.

“Next thing I think is a little bit of continuity in the line, we had the same guys pretty much out there so it’s not too much they hadn’t seen,” Atkins said.

The Seminoles’ offensive line handled business all season this year, helping lead the charge for Florida State’s running game that led the ACC in rushing yards per game with 217.8 per contest.

“And then Trey Benson, I think he leads the country in broken tackles, and elusiveness, and yards per carry, and things like that,” Atkins said. “So when you do have a bad look or things are not correctly you’ve got backs that can break tackles, so it’s a combination of all of those things.”

Benson exploded on the scene for Florida State this year, transferring in from Oregon this offseason following a serious knee injury. He received limited touches to start the season, and slowly but surely became the Seminoles leading, workhorse back who’s now just 35 rushing yards away from a 1,000 yard season.

“Whether you’re in the right play, you’re blocking up the looks and nothing confuses you and you can maintain blocks, and also you’ve got guys that can make you right when you ain’t right,” Atkins explained. “So I thought our running backs have done a great job of breaking tackles and running through things and making it difficult to tackle, so I think all those things combined gives you a shot to have a pretty good run game.”