Parity proves Swinney correct

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has always preached that the upcoming opponent is the biggest one of the season. In fact, he has even gone a step further when facing what many would consider to be a lesser opponent saying, "If you don't think it's a big game, just lose it. You will find out real quick how big a game it is."

CLEMSON—Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has always preached that the upcoming opponent is the biggest one of the season. In fact, he has even gone a step further when facing what many would consider to be a lesser opponent saying, "If you don't think it's a big game, just lose it. You will find out real quick how big a game it is."

That is the message Swinney is once again preaching, as his No. 1 ranked Tigers are 42-point favorites over the Charlotte 49ers this week. But if there is anything that this football season has proven, it is that Swinney may be right.

"This is college football. Citadel was probably Alabama's toughest game last year until Georgia," Swinney said. "Citadel beat South Carolina not too long ago. That's not a shocker. Georgia State beat Tennessee. That's college football. Anything can happen especially early. Nobody knows anything about anybody at this point. 

"We get all these expectations early in the year and you have new people. Anybody can beat anybody. This bunch can come in here and beat us. If we turn the ball over and play like crap, they can embarrass us."

If the Tigers are going to avoid the embarrassment that comes with being knocked off by a lesser team, or having that lesser team giving them a scare—similar to the one that Army gave Michigan, taking them to overtime, or that Furman gave Virginia Tech—it will come down to the Tigers focusing on themselves.

"We need to show some maturity and respect for the preparation process. We get ready for what the opponent does but it's always about Clemson," Swinney said. "That doesn't change. We will not prepare any different this week than we will for another opponent. That has created confidence in our preparation and consistency."

This week may not be a marquee game for the national media, but, for the Tigers, it will show the coaching staff that they have the maturity to achieve bigger things

"This is the biggest game of the year for us," Swinney said. "Sometimes you have teams that are immature and they don't respect the preparation process and the next thing you know you start playing to a name or an opponent or a record and you get beat. That's a bad way to be. Do we have the focus and maturity and leadership to prepare for the standard?"