Can Clemson Separate Itself From the Tommy Bowden Era?

This past Saturday the Tigers came up with a  what could be a groundbreaking victory for Head Coach Dabo Swinney and his Clemson Tigers. Swinney's team took a 40-37 victory over the Top 10 ranked Miami Hurricanes.

The Atlantic Division is now Clemson's to lose. Win out and they are headed to the ACC Championship.

In all his years at Clemson, Tommy Bowden couldn't get Clemson there. This is one of the biggest reasons that led to Bowden's departure last year. Clemson hasn't won an ACC Title of any sort since 1991. It's something their fans are desperately seeking.

So far this season, Dabo Swinney has done some things that have to be encouraging to Clemson fans.

After a near devastating loss to arguably the ACC's worst team the Maryland Terrapins, Swinney faced his first bit of real adversity as Clemson head coach last Saturday. He handled it well.

Swinney and offensive coordinator Billy Napier made some nice adjustments on offense. They are throwing to the tight ends Michael Palmer and Dwayne Allen more, and most importantly they are finding ways to get the ball into the hands of their biggest playmakers, WR Jacoby Ford and RB C.J. Spiller.

The Miami Hurricanes will have visions of No. 28 in their dreams after Spiller went for over 300 all-purpose yards against them. It was truly a great win for the Tigers, but they've been down this road before.

In addition to Bowden never making an ACC Championship game, his teams were known for mind numbing inconsistency. In 2006 Clemson beat No. 13 Georgia Tech to start the year 7-1. They went on to lose four of their last five.

In 2007 with the Atlantic Division a home win away, the Tigers lost 20-17 to Matt Ryan and the Boston College Eagles. Go back even further in 2004 and after the Tigers defeated a No. 11 Hurricanes team down in Miami, they promptly lost to Duke the next week.

Bowden's shadow of inconsistency and blown ACC Championship opportunities still hovers over the Clemson program.

The Tigers and Swinney can wipe away all the years of frustration over the next four weeks and truly separate themselves from the Bowden era.

They control their own destiny in the Atlantic Division. They should be favored in each one of their remaining ACC games.

After an out of conference breather with Coastal Carolina, the Tigers get a dangerous Florida State team, but the game is in Death Valley. Then there is a trip to defensively challenged NC State, and then a home game with a mediocre Virginia team.

The Tigers are playing their best football of the year, and now they have the chance to close the door on the Tommy Bowden era, by going out and winning the ACC's Atlantic Division.

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