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CLEMSON -- One minute last December, Brent Venables was going to take the head-coaching job at Auburn.

A few minutes later, he decided to remain at Clemson.

That was 11 months ago, and so much these days happens so fast that it might as well be 10 years ago because plenty of people have zero recollection of how big a story it was when Venables turned down the Tigers without a lake.

Maybe a contributor to the faded memories is what happened to Venables' defense the next time out, when Ohio State shredded Clemson so spectacularly that a prime offseason storyline was how the Tigers would recover and adapt to the tactics that undressed them so thoroughly that night in New Orleans.

As it turned out, Venables' defense has recovered quite well. Yes, through 10 games his group has had some lapses and hasn't presented a convincing case that it ranks with some of its more esteemed predecessors in the playoff era.