Clark column: Clemson's on top, but is the gap really that wide?

I remember the scene vividly.

It was about 30 minutes after the University of Florida had humiliated Florida State on Tim Tebow's Senior Day in 2009. You remember that one, right? It's when Tebow was calling the jump pass in front of the whole stadium, when FSU kicked a 20-yard field goal on the last play of the third quarter, down 30-0, when CBS commentator Gary Danielson said it was like watching the "varsity against the JV."

Head-coach-in-waiting-for-a-few-more-days Jimbo Fisher was meeting with reporters after Bobby Bowden had finished speaking. Fisher was asked just how long it would take for FSU to get back on equal footing with the rival Gators.

And he said one of the most salient things of his entire time in Tallahassee. It resonated with me then. Even more so today.

To paraphrase -- because that interview was almost a decade ago -- Fisher said he thought it could happen very soon. That in the state of Florida, with the recruits available, it's never too hard to catch back up.

I'll be honest. At the time, after watching FSU lose to Florida for the sixth year in a row, I kind of rolled my eyes at that answer. The Seminoles were nowhere close to the Gators and likely wouldn't be for the foreseeable future. I was as sure of that as I was that Tiger Woods was going to smash Jack Nicklaus' record for most majors.

Let's just say 2009 wasn't a great year for the Coracle.

Because I was absolutely wrong, and Jimbo was absolutely right. The dude knew of what he spoke. And he rebuilt a sensational program pretty darn quickly.

In less than a year, his program passed UF. In a few more years, it passed everyone.

Meanwhile, Florida was like a pace car that blew a tire. Suddenly, the entirety of college football, including Georgia Southern, was speeding past the Gators just a few seasons later. That's how quickly things can change in this game.

And that's why I chuckled to myself when we were in Charlotte, N.C., for ACC Kickoff, as Willie Taggart was asked twice about the challenge of catching up to Clemson.

Here was the first question: "Coach, in your mind, how far has Clemson separated itself from everyone in the conference, and what's it going to take to close the gap?"

Taggart's answer: "In my mind, they're the team to beat. They're at the mountaintop. And everybody's trying to get there. In order to be the man, you've got to beat the man. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a far separation. I don't think it's that. It's just a matter of playing them and beating them. It won't be a separation if you beat them. They're the team to beat."

Less than four minutes later (seriously), we got this question: "How far behind do you think you are from Clemson, and do you think you can catch them this year?"

In fairness to the second reporter, he obviously hadn't been at the table four minutes before, so he didn't know that Taggart had already been asked that question.