http://insider.espn.go.com/college-football/blog/_/name/haney_travis/id/9189835/can-clemson-tigers-take-next-step-elite-status-2013-college-football

CLEMSON, S.C. -- You forget how much the campus here resembles an SEC school until you visit, and particularly when you visit a day after being in Athens and two days after being in Auburn.

The late Southern author Lewis Grizzard once said Clemson was "Auburn with a lake." It's funny because it's true.

In fact, if the SEC were inclined to add another member -- and if it did not already have a school in the state; it would not want to do that to South Carolina -- Clemson would be a nice fit. Fervent fans. Big-time facilities. A national championship banner. It would work on a lot of levels.

But in this current reality, the Tigers are often hammered -- like most every other ACC program -- for playing a schedule lacking in clout. So it goes; it's a basketball league, still and maybe always.

But note that when Clemson hosts Georgia to open the 2013 season, it will be the Tigers' third consecutive SEC opponent and the fourth since the beginning of last season.

"And it'll be the third straight top-10 SEC opponent," Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, adding clarity to the thought. He laughs. "We're the SEC North. We have our own division."

Even so, it doesn't independently mean anything that the Tigers are playing these SEC heavyweights. How are they doing against them?

Let's review and then preview.


• The win against Auburn in the Atlanta kickoff game felt momentous at the time, but the shine came off it as the other Tigers' season progressed -- regressed, really -- until the firing of coach Gene Chizik.

So that didn't carry great weight in the end, even if Swinney says he thinks Auburn had the talent to win seven or eight games in 2012. In the end, it didn't; it won three and has a new coach, as a result.

• South Carolina? The rival? That's a sore spot these days for anyone wearing orange, Swinney included. The Gamecocks have won four straight in the rivalry for the first time since 1951 to 1954. (Swinney was born in 1969.)

It is not just that South Carolina is winning. It is dominating. The average score since 2009, Swinney's first full season, is 31-13.5.

"We've got to fix that," Swinney said wistfully, nodding when I point out that this is as good as South Carolina's program has ever been. "We've been good, but they've been a little bit better on that day."

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables asked me last summer if I thought the Tigers would beat the Gamecocks. I told him I didn't think so. He asked me why. I said it started up front. I told him I thought South Carolina's lines, and not just the freakish Jadeveon Clowney, were just better right now. And that is likely what separates the programs, as well as Clemson from most SEC teams.

• So it did bode well when Clemson knocked off LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, even if the ultimate rally required goofy play-calling from Les Miles' staff. It was not as if Swinney shrugged off beating LSU as good fortune. Clemson did hang in long enough, close enough to make a late push. It kept playing. "It was another step forward," Swinney said. "We finished great."

And then there is Clemson's next SEC challenge, Georgia. It's the first time the schools, separated by about 90 miles, have played in a decade. Swinney said the game was on the long-range schedule when he was promoted from receivers coach to the head job.

"I was just hoping to keep my job until 2013," he said, laughing. "It seemed like a long way off then, but it's gone quickly. Even then, I looked at it. People are excited about that game.

"I'm excited, but then I'm not. I'm not overly excited about playing a team that's that good."

That could work both ways. All these SEC games, more than any other program outside the 14-team league, could work to make the ACC seem far more palatable, winnable for the Tigers.

And their conference schedule is as manageable as it's going to get for any team that could legitimately contend for a national title. FSU comes to Death Valley. There's no North Carolina or Virginia Tech.

Early in our conversation, something sparked Swinney to say "when you're trying to be elite, the margin for error is small." And Clemson does feel close to elite, even if it is not quite there.

The Tigers lost only to Florida State and South Carolina a year ago, teams that combined for 23 wins. Both of those programs are currently pushing elite status, the Gamecocks for the first time and the Seminoles for the first time in about a decade.

A couple of things have separated Clemson from the top shelf, and it will have to address them in 2013. For one, the Tigers' yards-per-rush number -- 4.2, 69th in FBS -- was low. And that was with veteran back Andre Ellington and quarterback Tajh Boyd developing a run element to his game.

So what now that "Hot" Rod McDowell, who averaged 5.4 yards per on just 83 rushes, is the lead back? It will help that a previously inexperienced offensive line has matured, though it does lose veteran Dalton Freeman. Coordinator Chad Morris told me last week that his offense does require balance, so McDowell, D.J. Howard and Zac Brooks will have to help push the team toward that -- along with another good year from Boyd (10 rushing TDs) on the ground.

Secondly, coordinator Brent Venables' defense needs to continue its upward trend. Through the first six games in 2012, the Tigers were 112th out of 120 FBS teams in yards per play allowed (6.56). In the final seven games, however, the Tigers were 22nd in the country (4.91), demonstrating marked improvement under the first-year coordinator.

Granted, LSU was up and down all season on offense, but Clemson held it to 219 total yards and nine first downs in the bowl -- a reason Clemson was able to come from behind. Only one team held LSU's offense to fewer yards -- Florida, with 200 -- all season long. And the LSU offense faced the likes of South Carolina (406 yards of offense), Texas A&M (316) and Alabama (435).

Venables tailored the young-and-learning pieces to his system, and it showed by season's end. If that momentum carries into the start of 2013, this could be a Clemson team that takes the next step toward elite status.

"Our goal is to be a legitimate top-10 team, top-15 team," Swinney said. "If you're around there, then you're in it. That's where we're trying to consistently be, be one of those teams.

"If you live in that area, and the ball bounces your way, you've got a chance."

And if that does happen, Clemson -- as an ACC champ … or champ of the fictitious "SEC North" -- could very well run into another SEC team in a much bigger setting.

Here are some other notes from my travels the past two weeks …

• Michigan losing linebacker Jake Ryan, the team's leading tackler from a year ago, to an ACL tear was a big blow, but coach Brady Hoke and coordinator Greg Mattison were both extremely optimistic that Ryan would be able to return by midseason.

"If there's anyone who is going to come back faster than the doctors say he's going to, it's him," Mattison told me Wednesday.

Hoke echoed that, saying Ryan is "as unorthodox of a player as I've seen." Hoke had to laugh when he told us that he actually turned Ryan away when Hoke's staff was still at San Diego State.

"I told him when I got here that there was no way he was good enough to play at Michigan because he wasn't good enough for San Diego State," Hoke said, laughing. "We still remind him of that in the hallways."

• In complimenting Georgia QB Aaron Murray's athleticism, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn told me last week that Murray could probably be effective in a spread or zone-read system instead of the Bulldogs' pro-style set. But Mark Richt did not agree.

"He's a great athlete," Richt told me, "but this is the right system for him. This is what he needs to be running."

The numbers back him up. Even without an elite, A.J. Green-level receiver, Murray was first in the country in 2012 in yards per attempt (10.1), second in passing efficiency (174.8) and fifth in touchdowns (36).

• On the topic of Georgia receivers, the Bulldogs are hopeful that midterm enrollee Jonathan Rumph might have an impact on the offense. He had 96 yards and two touchdowns in the G-Day spring game, turning the heads of the team's coaches.

The effort was particularly useful considering Malcolm Mitchell was sidelined after minor knee surgery for a meniscus tear. Mitchell, who also repped at cornerback last season, is expected to be fine by even late-summer workouts.

• Michigan tackle Taylor Lewan had a pretty terrible mustache when I met with him Wednesday. He said it's an offensive line bonding thing. His is not even the worst. One of the younger linemen had to shave his because it was so hideous.

"We figured why not do it?" said Lewan, who spurned the NFL to play another college season. "It's Ann Arbor. No one's here in the summer, anyway. There's no one to make fun of us."

We asked defensive coordinator Greg Mattison if he wanted to get in on it.

"That's an O-line thing," he said. "Don't you know I hate O-linemen? That's totally for the other side."

• While I was sitting with Lewan, he noticed behind me that the "SportsCenter" crew was talking about tackles in next week's draft. He named Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel, Central Michigan's Eric Fisher and Oklahoma's Lane Johnson like they were best buds. I said, "You could have been one of them."

He responded, "I didn't want to be just one of them."

Another Michigan man, Jake Long, went first overall in 2008. That might not be possible for Lewan in 2014, because of Jadeveon Clowney, but he could certainly be the first tackle selected. A&M's Jake Matthews could be in the running, as well.

• I loved hearing the story about how Morris and Malzahn got to know each other. Morris was a Texas high school coach, struggling to keep his job after missing the playoffs.

He had heard about Malzahn's innovative take on the Delaware Wing-T and, in an attempt to hang on at Stephenville High, went to visit him at his Arkansas high school.

Fast forward 10 years, and Malzahn has a giant office in Auburn's facility and Morris has a comfy spot inside Clemson's West Zone facility. The two coaches still stay in regular contact. In fact, Malzahn has been a confidant for Morris as he has entertained job opportunities and offers. It's a similar road Morris is currently traversing.

"It's flattering to be wanted, to be talked to," Morris said. "It's going to take a very special place for me to leave here."


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Travis Haney
ESPN Insider
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• Joined ESPN as Insider's national college football writer in April 2012
• Previously wrote for The Oklahoman and The Post and Courier
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