The Clemson Tigers Are One of the 'Winners' of Week Four After Dominating Victory

The Clemson Tigers might just be back on the right track with a strong start to conference play.

Ken Ruinard-Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers got conference play started off on the right foot on Saturday afternoon with a huge 59-35 victory over the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

It's a win, and more importantly a performance, that Clemson needed in order to show that their embarrassing loss against the Georgia Bulldogs in week one was more so the gold standard program in the sport flexing their muscles on the Tigers rather than Clemson not being good enough to win the conference as was the case last year.

The drubbing of Appalachian State two weeks ago was a good start, but the Tigers needed to prove it against a conference opponent rather than a Sun Belt opponent, and they did just that with a 28-point first quarter and yet another offensive explosion in the first half with six touchdowns.

When looking at the bigger picture, this display by Clemson meant more than just getting conference play off on the right foot, it sent a message to the rest of the sport that the Tigers are prime contenders to make the College Football Playoff.

In a 'winners and losers' article, Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports described Clemson as his first winner of the week and praised the performance of Dabo Swinney's team, while adding that both App State and NC State have suffered concerning losses and that Clemson must continue to prove it.

Ultimately, while winning in the fashion that the Tigers have the last two weeks does feel great, Bromberg is correct in saying they must keep their foot on the gas. Over the next several weeks, opportunities present themselves for Clemson to continue to prove that they are still in the upper echelon of the sport.

The Tigers face Stanford and Florida State over the next two weeks, both teams that are simply inferior to Clemson right now as the previous two opponents have been. And in this sport, great teams don't just beat inferior teams: great teams destroy inferior teams. The standard has been there the last two games, but it must remain there for the rest of the season if the Tigers want to return to the biggest stages in the sport.