Clemson was The Story in college football after opening the season 8-0 with wins over Auburn, Florida State and Virginia.

Then reality hit.

Coach Dabo Swinney watched his team limp to the finish line, dropping three of its final four games. West Virginia dropped 70 points on the Tigers' heads in the Orange Bowl, which sent Cinderella's carriage darting off the cliff. Was Clemson's alleged renaissance actually a mirage?

The real answers come this fall. Offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who now earns $1.3 million per season, has spent the past seven months searching for ways to learn from what Georgia Tech, N.C. State and South Carolina did to his attack late in the season. New defensive coordinator Brent Venables is taking inventory and essentially starting from scratch.

Will Auburn be able to take advantage of a team that clearly lost its way late in 2011?

Let's take a closer look …

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