Dabo Swinney probably sees O.J. Howard in his sleep.
Swinney's Clemson players sure didn't spot Howard often enough on the field in last season's national championship game, when the unheralded Alabama tight end broke loose for five catches for 208 yards and his only two touchdowns of the season to help the Crimson Tide to a thrilling 45-40 victory over the Tigers.
But don't despair for the 14-1 ACC champs.
They'll rebound. And soon.
By September.
In fact, it says here that Clemson is the favorite to return to the big stage in Tampa, Florida, in January and capture its first national championship since 1981.
Clemson, which has won 56 games in the past five seasons, might well be the new Alabama.
Those are daunting words, but Swinney's Tigers could be the program most likely to be compared to a dynastic Crimson Tide operation that has won four national championships since the start of the 2009 season, one Texas remembers all too painfully.
"We won as many games as Alabama last year," Swinney told reporters this month. "We just lost the wrong one."
As for this year, Clemson might not lose any.
Arguably, the Tigers have the best quarterback in the country, a Heisman Trophy favorite whom Nick Saban has likened to Cam Newton; one of the best sets of wide receivers; a sensational backfield featuring a 1,500-yard rusher; a terrific offensive line; a strong, stable coaching staff that is intact from 2015; and a friendly schedule that's ranked as only the 61st-toughest by Phil Steele's preseason magazine and includes just two rugged road trips -- to Auburn and Florida State.
That's why Clemson is the No. 1 team in the Austin American-Statesman's annual Top 25 preseason rankings.
And there are bountiful reasons Alabama can't remain Alabama forever, besides the law of averages, and Clemson can crest the Tide.
In the past 12 seasons, only Florida has joined Alabama in winning more than one national title, meaning more teams have cracks at finishing No. 1, especially with the four-team College Football Playoff.
With potentially 15 games in a season, including two playoff games, it might be harder to win it all, but nowadays teams can be ranked as low as fourth in the CFP rankings and still have a shot.
Here's why Clemson could become Alabama, especially with Swinney, a former walk-on receiver for the Crimson Tide, leading the Tigers.
Saban can't coach forever, can he? If the NFL or his wife's real estate agent doesn't lure him out of Tuscaloosa, surely grandkids or retirement will come calling for him. He will turn 65 this season, after all.
One obstacle to another team knocking Bama off its perch would be a return of the charismatic Swinney to his alma mater, although he received a $1.1 million raise as part of a $30 million-plus deal that extended his contract with Clemson through 2021. And who in his right mind wants to follow St. Nick?
But some program has to replace Alabama as the hot team eventually. And if it's not Clemson, with the boyish-looking, dance-crazy, 46-year-old Swinney, who then?
Quite possibly, it could be Ohio State since few teams will match the talent on Urban Meyer's rosters. (Google the 2016 NFL draft if you doubt the veracity of that statement.) Or maybe Florida State because Jimbo Fisher's team is always loaded. And don't forget Oregon, Michigan, Michigan State, LSU or Oklahoma.
At Clemson, Swinney has evolved into a rising star, a media-friendly player's coach who's such a Type A personality he could spawn emoticons that haven't even been invented yet.
And Clemson won't be going away anytime soon, even if junior quarterback Deshaun Watson wins the Heisman and takes off early for the NFL. Swinney's recruiting has been consistently stellar. According to 247 Sports' composite rankings, Clemson's past five recruiting classes, starting with the 2016 group, rank 11th, ninth, 17th, 15th and 15th. The Tigers' crop of 11 commitments for 2017 ranks 12th but includes two five-star players and six four-star ones.
Co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott, highly regarded as a pitchman for Clemson, is ranked as the No. 3 recruiter in the nation by 247 Sports. He's done a fabulous job because the past five Clemson classes have included seven five-star recruits and 57 four-star players. And Clemson recruits nationally, gathering players from states as distant as Hawaii. Right now, 14 states are represented on the roster.
On another front, the ACC just isn't that hard to dominate, at least not when compared with the SEC or Big Ten. Get past Florida State, and there's a good chance Clemson reaches the CFP.
The ACC can claim just six national championships, three of them won by the Seminoles. Otherwise, you've got to go back to Georgia Tech's shared crown with Colorado in 1990, Danny Ford's unbeaten Clemson team in 1981 and a Maryland title a couple of generations ago in 1953.
Eleven players who won some type of All-ACC honor return for the Tigers, and they have some unfinished business.
"The spotlight isn't new to us anymore," Swinney said. "We've been favored in 90-plus percent of our games the last five years and won a ton of them. We treat every game as if it's the national championship."
And the odds are good that they'll definitely treat the final one of the season exactly that way.
Kirk Bohls writes for the Austin American-Statesman.
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