(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Last season Clemson started out strong. It was their year to return to national prominence.

Armed with an excellent preseason ranking, they were going to start the season guns ablazing and lay waste to Alabama.

And then something went wrong. Horribly wrong.

No one expected Clemson to have the season they did. After all, so many highly touted, knowledgeable, and experienced football gurus had them having a dream year. How could so many people have been wrong?

For starters, Clemson did not have the experience in their offensive line. With less than 40 combined career starts between the five on the line, Clemson was just not set up to be as successful as they should have been.

You can call it the coaching, but you can't coach experience.

The offensive line is really what carries the offense. Having a great running back, a phenomenal quarterback, receivers who are stellar, etc. doesn't mean anything when there are no holes for a running back to run through or no time for a quarterback to let routes develop and make good choices.

Offensive linemen really are the unsung heroes football. Without them, the offense really has to get through hell to be able to perform.

Sam Bradford is another product of a stellar offensive line. Sure, Bradford had the receivers, but he also benefited from having the most experienced offensive line in college football last year. With 131 combined career starts, Bradford had plenty of time to find his open guys.

Or look at Utah. With an offensive line with over 80 combined career starts last year, they seemed to blindside everyone who didn't understand the importance of the offensive line.

So who should go the route of Clemson and who should go the route of Utah this year?

For starters, Notre Dame is starting the season with 100 combined career starts. Out of the 120 teams in Division I football, the Fighting Irish have the 9th most experienced line.

Georgia struggled last year because they had less than 40 combined starts, but not this year. A team with 99 combined career starts (ranked 12th) in the trenches will be in major control of the line of scrimmage.

Texas will be another team that should put up gawdy numbers again this year. With 91 combined career starts, Texas is ranked 17th.

Teams who are going the route of Clemson last year? Try, Oklahoma (32 starts), Penn State (39 starts), Boise State (40 starts), Oregon (20 starts), and BYU (23 starts).

The teams who are going to go the route of Utah are Notre Dame (100 starts), Iowa (99 starts), Tennessee (80) if they can get their coaching together, Rutgers (90), and Michigan (76).

Here's a look at the top 25 teams in the preseason polls with the number of combined career starts for their offensive line as well as the ranking.

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