Morris: USC must aim for Clemson

FINDING PERSPECTIVE IN the wake of disaster can be difficult. Allow me to make an attempt in the wake of yet another troubling conclusion to a South Carolina football season.

USC backed up a five-game losing streak to conclude the 2007 season with a three-game collapse at the end of this season. Recounting the sordid details of a skid that saw USC outscored 118-30 is hardly necessary. USC fans know full well how their team was embarrassed by Florida, Clemson and Iowa.

Of the three blowouts, the Clemson loss was most troubling. Florida might be the national champion after it plays Oklahoma on Thursday. Iowa was an outstanding team that came within a few plays of being in a BCS bowl.

But Clemson was a team and program in flux. As we all know, Clemson changed coaches at midseason. Out was Tommy Bowden after nearly 10 seasons and in was young Dabo Swinney, who brought unbridled enthusiasm to the Clemson sideline but not one day of head coaching experience.

Let’s face it, rare have been the chances for USC to pounce on problems surrounding the Clemson program. Since 1977, Clemson has suffered three losing seasons and has played in 24 bowl games. It has won seven ACC titles and one national championship in that period.

So when it appears Clemson’s knees might be buckling, USC needs to deliver a knockout punch. This was one of those occasions. Yet Clemson appeared to be the team that wanted to win more, perhaps seeing that it could secure the job for its interim coach or because a bowl invitation hung in the balance.

For whatever reason, USC played with little life. There certainly appeared to be no recognition that USC faced a golden opportunity to kick Clemson when it was down.

Instead, Clemson salvaged what could have been a lost season by defeating USC and won the permanent job for Swinney. Now, Clemson’s program seems to be sailing right along as if there never was a coaching change.

It is a sure sign that USC still has a long way to go to catch Clemson’s program in nearly every regard. And, really, that is what it comes down to for USC: It needs to catch up with Clemson.

There has been one year since Steve Spurrier arrived that USC soundly defeated Clemson in recruiting and gathered what was considered one of the top classes in the country. It followed USC’s 31-28 victory at Clemson in 2006.

Because of the coaching change at Clemson, USC might again win the instate recruiting battle and collect another top-level class. Even so, USC still lags behind Clemson in so many areas.

Give Bowden full credit because he slowly built a solid base for the program during his nine seasons at Clemson. Bowden stacked solid recruiting class on top of solid recruiting class. His teams annually contended for the ACC championship or title game. He left the program in considerably better shape than what he inherited, thus paving the way for a smooth transition to the Swinney era.

Spurrier enters year five of a much more difficult rebuilding project than Bowden faced. USC is gradually addressing its facilities needs. Piece by piece, Spurrier is assembling a solid coaching staff. Another solid recruiting class will give USC three in a row.

The USC program under Spurrier is much more sound than what he inherited. Still, the growing process has been more painful than most anticipated under Spurrier. He probably believed USC would be further along after four seasons. No doubt, he believed his offense would be more productive heading into a fifth season.

Yet, in the bigger picture, Spurrier has moved the program forward. Three bowl appearances in four seasons is outstanding by USC standards. Three winning seasons out of four is worth crowing about, at least at USC. Wins against 12th-ranked Florida in 2005, No. 24 Clemson in 2006, No. 11 Georgia in 2007, No. 8 Kentucky in 2007 and unranked-but-talented Mississippi this season have given USC fans rays of hope.

Unfortunately, with the success has come heartache. Two close losses to Georgia were painful, as was the five-game losing streak that left USC out of the bowl picture at the end of the 2007 season.

There are few quick fixes in college football, particularly at a school where mediocrity has far out-trumped rich tradition. It took nine seasons for Bowden to get the Clemson program to where he had to win championships to keep his job.

USC is not there yet. To get to that point it must begin to catch up with Clemson. That does not necessarily mean having to beat Clemson every season — although winning more than twice in 12 seasons would help — to close the gap.

Rather, it means continuing to recruit on the same level with Clemson. It means catching up with Clemson in facilities. It means being as competitive as Clemson week-in and week-out every season.

USC was not competitive in the final three games of this season, but perhaps a program has to hit rough patches before it can surge forward again. Perhaps those games were a sign that USC is not as far along in the process as we thought and it must experience growing pains.

Spurrier has said from the outset that his team’s goal every season is to win the SEC East. That makes perfect sense for every USC team. But, perhaps the bigger goal for the entire program should be for USC to some day catch up to Clemson.

That will take a while. But it can be done.

Listen to Morris Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. on ESPN Radio 93.1 FM.