TOMMY BOWDEN’S HAIR was neatly combed. He had showered and dressed before he faced the media. He was nattily attired in a jet-black suit, one fit for the funeral he had just attended.

Clemson’s season of great anticipation died at aptly named Death Valley.

Earlier, as Bowden exited the west end zone, the message from fans was loud and clear: They had seen this kind of performance before.

We could go back through the Bowden era and detail the annual game in which one phase of Clemson’s game collapsed — and with it the Tigers’ season. One season it was special teams play in a particularly galling loss. The next it was the secondary. Then the running game grew stagnant, or maybe the passing game.
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