re: What would the national perception be if we beat Clemson?

The problem is people think the SEC has crappy offenses.

We say it's because the defenses are so good, they make the offenses look average. Basically, we say that if we played against other conference defenses, then we would look awesome.

Then, we line up against one of the worst defenses in the country, and our line got dismantled.

The Clemson loss was as embarrassing as it gets.