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'We wanted to stick it out': FSU football's offensive line 'opted in' for Orange Bowl
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- 'We wanted to stick it out': FSU football's offensive line 'opted in' for Orange Bowl
The depth of Florida State football 's offensive line has never really come into question this season, and it remains intact despite multiple transfers and opt-outs ahead of the Seminoles ' matchup against Georgia in the Orange Bowl on Saturday.
FSU's offensive line lost two players to the NCAA transfer portal: Bless Harris (TCU) and Qae'shon Sapp (Louisiana Monroe) .
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However, Harris had been limited all season due to injury and Sapp did not play in a game.
Following the Seminoles' release of their depth chart Tuesday, Darius Washington (left tackle), Casey Roddick (left guard), Maurice Smith (center), D'Mitri Emmanuel (right guard) and Jeremiah Byers (right tackle) are still listed as starters.
It is one of the positional groups with little to no changes since the portal opened.
"That just speaks to those guys what they've been through," offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said. "I mean, you got Darius Washington , Maurice Smith , and Robert Scott, who were here in this program in 2020, and two of them were in 2019. I'm pretty sure they weren't going to miss an experience from what they went through to get to this point and get to enjoy it."
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"I promise you that in their mind this is the best bowl game they could have ever been to."
Opting in
Florida State Seminoles offensive lineman D'Mitri Emmanuel (71) practices with the team on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023.
After the news of not making the College Football Playoff broke, opting out was not an option for Emmanuel .
In his seventh and final, college football season, he wanted the opportunity to play one last game and is grateful for having the chance to play.
"I wanted to finish the season out strong," Emmanuel said. "I'm just more so grateful to even be in the situation that I'm in. I started my career at Charlotte and If I knew I'd be playing in the Orange Bowl with Florida State I'd be very excited. I'm just grateful to be here and grateful for the opportunity. I was gonna play the season out."
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That mindset of staying and finishing out wasn't just felt by Emmanuel, but shared by the entire offensive line. When others were leaving, the line wholeheartedly agreed that it wanted to stay.
"We just communicated with each other and said we wanted to stick it out and play," Smith said. "Our loyalty means a lot to this university. No matter the situation, we wanted to stick it out."
The opportunity to play and the relationship that the offensive line has with each other is a big reason why a lot of them "opted in" to play in the Orange Bowl.
Throughout the entire season, the group has cycled in eight different players and has seen no fall-off through the rotation.
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The offensive line has been the Seminoles' most consistent positional group this entire season and is looking like it's going to uphold that standard on Saturday despite all the changes around them.
"Our group is very well-connected and we have a great relationship with each other," Smith said. "We all just want to ball."
Taking the 'biggest' responsibility
FSU center Maurice Smith prepares to snap the ball during the Seminoles' first padded practice of spring camp March 12, 2021.
Now in front of a young offense, made up of freshman quarterback Brock Glenn in his second career start and a slew of other players filling in for starters who have opted out or transferred, the line is taking a responsibility to make sure the offense is running the same way it has for the last 13 games.
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"We always want to feel like we are the most important reason so we can do everything we can to grow," Smith said. "As offensive linemen, we try to take the biggest responsibility."
A lot of the O-Line stayed but saw a lot of their teammates exit.
However, according to Washington, there's no malice or disdain toward players who left. He wants to support them in finding a new place that best fits them.
"All you can do is support them," Washington said. "Everybody that came in and put in the work. Like you've gotta see the kind of work we put in. When you come in and start building stuff, you're already building a relationship with somebody. I can't get mad at them for thinking of their future."
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HOW TO WATCH ORANGE BOWL
Who: No. 5 FSU (13-0) vs. No. 6 Georgia (12-1)
When/where: 4 p.m., Saturday, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
TV/Radio: ESPN/94.9 FM
Live game updates: www.Tallahassee.com; @Ehsan_Kassim, @jackgwilliams and @JimHenryTALLY on X, formerly Twitter
Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on X @jackgwilliams.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football offensive line taking 'biggest responsibility' in Orange Bowl
