Two Saturdays ago, NC State came to Clemson with eyes on stealing Clemson's throne atop the ACC Atlantic Division and, thus, the entire conference. The Wolfpack were undefeated and ranked No. 16 in the country. A win would have moved them to 3-0 in conference play, meaning a win would essentially earn them a 2-game lead in the division with five to play.
So it was a big game.
But Clemson has played in (and won) a trillion big games over the years, while NC State has played in few and won fewer.
The Tigers led 14-0 after one quarter, 24-0 at the half and cruised to a 41-7 victory. It's fair to say Clemson smashed NC State.
On Tuesday, Dabo Swinney shared a story of when he knew Clemson was going to win the game. I won't spoil the story for you simply because I would hate to deprive you of the joy you'll receive from watching Dabo tell this tale, but it's one of those great football stories that has nothing to do with the game and everything to do with it at the same time.
Legend has it Brent Venables is still sitting in that chair in the back of Clemson's team meeting room, staring at his his yellow legal pad at this very moment.