When Florida State’s offensive line looked porous in 2024’s season-opening upset loss to Georgia Tech, it was a sign of things to come for a group that struggled the entire year. After a completely revamped unit appeared dominant against Alabama last weekend, the Seminoles will be hoping that, yet again, it’s a sign of what to expect for the rest of the 2025 campaign - this time for the better.
At the center of it metaphorically is offensive line coach Herb Hand, and at the center of it literally is redshirt senior center Luke Petitbon. Like almost everyone who took the field for FSU’s offense in the season-opener, they’re both new to Tallahassee, with Petitbon a graduate transfer from Wake Forest and Hand joining new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn from the University of Central Florida.
Both would tell anyone who asks that it’s a team effort, but the duo certainly deserves praise for what, based on one game against a top 10 opponent, appears to be a massive turnaround for head coach Mike Norvell’s most troubled unit last year. Hand is the man in charge of the unit off the field, and to hear him explain it, Petitbon is the unquestioned leader on the line of scrimmage.
“He’s the guy on that field that runs the show,” Hand said this week.
What that entails, Hand explained, is effectively being the playcaller for the entire offensive line. Petitbon is the lineman in charge of pre-snap identifications – i.e., reading the defense, ID-ing pressure, spotting blitzes – and it’s his job to communicate those observations to the four linemen flanking him on every play.
Then, it’s on the other four to follow his directions and hope it works out.
“What we say is, ‘Have balls, make a call and live with it,’” Hand told reporters.
Saturday’s results, Hand said, they can certainly live with. The Seminoles rushed for 230 yards and four touchdowns, while not giving up a single sack to a front seven comprised almost exclusively of blue chip recruits.
It was the first time since 2012 that a Florida State offensive line had put up those numbers. Not even the National Champion 2013 squad could match what Petitbon and the 2025 unit accomplished in week one.
For his performance, Petitbon was named the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week – an award that cited his “85 percent job grade and 96 percent effort grade, accounting for seven knockdown blocks and seven blocks that led to either a touchdown or first down.” He was impressive enough, it would seem, without anyone even knowing his pre-snap responsibilities.
Of course, that was just one game, as Hand was quick to point out whenever someone praised his unit’s performance. They’ll have to do it at least 11 more times this year, at minimum. With a potential ACC Championship Game and the prospect of the College Football Playoff, that number could quickly grow even higher.
Hand is one of the most highly respected offensive line coaches in college football, having been one of the key role players in some of the most successful stretches of football at schools like West Virginia, Vanderbilt, Penn State and Auburn, before spending three years at Texas and then the last four with Malzahn at UCF.
He knows as well as anyone that what happened the last Saturday is no guarantee of what will happen the next one.
"They played good enough for us to get the job done last Saturday, but that doesn’t mean anything for this weekend,” he said. “Not one play, not one yard, not one down is going to carry over.”
Only two things stay the same: him, and the players. In fact, all five starting offensive linemen last week played every single one of the offense’s 63 snaps. Knock on wood, Hand can keep that entire unit in place all season. But a college football season is often a war of attrition – injuries are bound to have an effect. You just have to hope they aren’t that serious.
Hand does, however, have a sixth man ready to jump in, if and when he is needed. Redshirt senior Jacob Rizy – who was one of the few bright spots on last year’s offensive line at FSU – is the Swiss Army Knife that Hand will rely on to remedy any situation. Rizy can play anywhere on the line, Hand said, and he is one of the most experienced linemen on the team after two years as an All Ivy League starter at Harvard, followed by being named FSU’s offensive newcomer of the year in 2024.
Between five starters who played the entire game, a sixth ready to step in at any moment, and a position coach who has decades of experience, Norvell's new-look Noles have an offensive line they can count on.
Now, with their newfound optimism and shiny new top-15 AP ranking, Florida State will be relying on that offensive line to string together repeat performances for the next three months.
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