Tommy's take

Tommy Bowden has been in the public eye quite a bit recently. Part of it's because he has a book out. Part of it's because he's a studio analyst for ACC football. And part of it's because he's always been an accessible guy and doesn't mind doing interviews.

It's been four years since Bowden stepped down at Clemson, and sometimes it's interesting to get his takes on the program he left. In a recent radio interview, he expressed some skepticism about Clemson's defense and said this team reminds him of the teams quarterbacked by Woody Dantzler in 1999, 2000 and 2001.

Those teams had a lot of flash, but they were fundamentally flawed in some ways. I think this program right now is in much better shape and is significantly more talented than those teams, but certainly there are big questions about this defense, its talent and its depth. And though the offensive line did extremely well in the opener against Auburn, it still faces the question of whether it can consistently hold its own against good fronts.

Saturday's game in Tallahassee could go a long way in telling us whether this team has flaws that will keep it from being an elite presence in 2012.

Bowden also did this interview on Yahoo Sports Radio, and he was asked about the job Dabo Swinney has done at Clemson.

"Two things: Chad Morris and Sammy Watkins," he said.

Bowden said this offense is on the cutting edge like Rich Rodriguez's offense was on the cutting edge in 1999 and 2000. He said whoever figures out how to defend this offense is going to be ahead of the curve. He said last year's team probably would've finished with eight wins rather than 10 without Sammy.

Florida State hasn't enjoyed ACC supremacy in a long, long time, and Bowden was responsible for changing the Tigers' fortunes against the Seminoles. Clemson has won six of the last nine, starting with a completely unexpected 26-10 rout of the No. 3 'Noles in 2003.

Bowden seems sold on what he's seen from Florida State thus far. He watched the Seminoles' 52-0 trouncing of Wake Forest on television, and he came away with one impression:

"They're back," he said.

He thinks they're back because of their defense. Their long stretch of greatness from 1987 to 2000 was largely marked by great defense, and Bowden thinks this group fits that criteria.

LW