Clemson linebacker Dorian O’Daniel was charging forward to cover the running back out of the backfield on what seemed like Louisville’s 28th second-and-long of the evening. It made sense, as quick passes to the perimeter were all the Tigers had allowed defending Heisman winner Lamar Jackson to complete. He was 11-for-23 passing at this point early in the third quarter — 9-for-12 on passes that were quick and to the sideline and 2-for-11 on anything else.

With O’Daniel properly baited, Jackson attempted to use his momentum against him, throwing behind where he would be to Reggie Bonnafon downfield.

O’Daniel stopped on a dime, lurched back into the passing lane, made a spinning interception — Jackson’s first in 134 throws — then changed directions once more and took it 44 yards for a touchdown and a 26-7 Clemson lead.

As Jackson was walking off the field, he appeared to give an exasperated “What??” He was probably talking to a coach just off-camera, sure, but you could forgive him if he was briefly falling into his own internal monologue.

What?

Is Clemson ... better than it was last year?

What?

Team of the Week: Clemson

Clemson wrecked my plans last night, just as it was wrecking Louisville’s. As Mississippi State began to systematically break down and destroy LSU, I had decided the Bulldogs would get Sunday’s Team of the Week treatment. It was a display of dominance Dan Mullen’s team had perhaps never shown during his increasingly successful tenure in Starkville.

Then Clemson went and left me with no choice.

The benchmarks are impossible to ignore.

Last year, on the way to the national title:

The Tigers held Auburn to 13 points and 262 yards and sacked its revolving door of quarterbacks four times in a six-point win.

They allowed Louisville 36 points and 568 yards in a Death Valley thriller.

This year:

Auburn scored just six points, gained 117 yards, and took 11 sacks in an eight-point Clemson win.

Louisville gained only 433 yards and scored 21 points, but that doesn't tell the story: The Cardinals gained just 185 of those yards and scored just seven of those points in the game's first 43 minutes (which included seven UL punts and the pick-six), as Clemson built a 33-7 lead. The Cardinals made things respectable in the late going, but only because Clemson allowed them to.

Oh yeah, and Clemson gained 613 yards on Louisville, 106 more than last year.

Clemson was always going to be good this year. Of course. You know who the Tigers lost from last year’s breakthrough title — quarterback Deshaun Watson (the No. 12 pick in the NFL draft), running back Wayne Gallman (no. 140), receivers Mike Williams (No. 7) and Artavis Scott, tight end Jordan Leggett (No. 150), center Jay Guillermo, defensive tackles Carlos Watkins (No. 142) and Scott Pagano, linebacker Ben Boulware, safety Jadar Johnson, and cornerback Cordrea Tankersley (No. 97) — but they still returned plenty of talent from head coach Dabo Swinney’s recruiting machine. They still had monsters for defensive coordinator Brent Venables to deploy. They still had speedsters for offensive co-coordinators Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to break in.

But come on. There’s supposed to be a breaking-in period.

Quarterback Kelly Bryant (22-for-32 for 316 yards on Saturday night) had thrown 18 career passes before taking over for Watson.

Running back Tavien Feaster (10 carries for 92 yards) had 37 career carries, all in 2016 blowouts.

Running back Travis Etienne (six carries for 98 yards, including an 81-yard explosion late in the game) was lining up in the Jennings (La.) High School backfield against Church Point High this time last year.

Defensive end Austin Bryant (four TFLs vs. Auburn) had just four TFLs all of last year.

Safety Isaiah Simmons (six solo tackles and two assists vs. Louisville) was a Kansas lean in recruiting until he picked up a late offer from Swinney and signed. He redshirted last year.

The stars are playing like stars. Defensive tackles Dexter Lawrence and Christian Wilkins are immovable. O’Daniel and Kendall Joseph have raised their already high game at linebacker. The receiver trio of Ray-Ray McCloud, Hunter Renfrow, and Deon Cain made a ton of tough catches against Auburn, and McCloud’s 79-yard catch in Louisville was a dagger.

But the new pieces have fit right in, and after playing things conservatively against Auburn, the staff loosened the reins on Bryant a bit, and it paid off. He takes a lot of hits (he had 14 carries and got sacked four times on Saturday), but he has led the Tigers to wins over top-15 teams in two of his first three starts.

That Clemson is 3-0 isn’t a total surprise. This is the preseason No. 5 team that we’re talking about here. But five suddenly feels like an understatement. This team is a wrecking ball.

Other Teams of the Week

2. Mississippi State (def. LSU, 37-7)

Mullen lost the best quarterback in school history (Dak Prescott), and it took him basically one reset year to put maybe his best team yet on the field. That the Bulldogs beat LSU at home wasn’t a massive surprise; that they dominated LSU was a stunner. This team better get a lot of top-10 votes this week.

3. Penn State (def. Georgia State, 56-0)

No, Penn State has not been tested yet. No, destroying Georgia State isn’t a massive accomplishment. But as he prepares his team to defend its Big Ten title, knowing his Nittany Lions are going to take a lot more big swings than they did a year ago, head coach James Franklin used the final minute of nonconference play to deliver one final message: Nothing is going to come easy against this team, even a meaningless field goal in the final moments of a blowout. If his backup field goal team isn’t lined up right before said meaningless field goal, he’s going to use a timeout to fix it. Up 56.

4. Vanderbilt (def. Kansas State, 14-7)

One of Saturday’s more intriguing matchups was in Nashville, where Vanderbilt took a thrilling defense and questionable offense into battle against a K-State team with a thrilling offense and questionable defense. The defenses won out. Each team had one sustained scoring drive, and Vandy took a nice win by picking off a fourth-quarter pass and setting up a short-field touchdown.

5. Purdue (def. Missouri, 35-3)

Jeff Brohm’s got one of the more tactically interesting teams in college football — it was the case last year at WKU, and it is the case in West Lafayette as well. He took a prepared team to Columbia. Unfortunately, his was the only team to show up. The Boilermakers only got to ply their trade for about 30 minutes, because that was all it took to put away an uninterested Missouri squad.

6. Memphis (def. UCLA, 48-45)

People like to say that college football is more fun when [Dominant Team from Childhood] is good. I say college football is more fun when Memphis is fast as hell and capable of beating Josh Rosen and UCLA in a shootout.

7. UAB (def. Coastal Carolina, 30-23)

Granted, Coastal Carolina only recently became an FBS team, but it still counts as the Blazers’ first win over an FBS opponent in 1,022 days. There’s perseverance, and there’s Bill Clark’s UAB tenure. #TheReturn

8. Oregon (def. Wyoming, 49-13)

Willie Taggart’s first season in Eugene was set up like a Learning How To Win Again checklist. Easy FCS confidence builder (77-21 over Southern Utah)? Check. Nearly blown lead against decent P5 opponent (42-35 over Nebraska)? Check. Strange, awkward road trip (49-13 over Wyoming)? Check. The Ducks rolled in Laramie, and while it’s becoming quite clear that too much was expected of the Cowboys this year, the simple act of handling your business can serve as fantastic proof of concept.

9. NC A&T (def. Charlotte, 35-31)

Rod Broadway’s Aggies scored their second FBS win in two seasons, this time without everybody’s new favorite Chicago Bear, Tarik Cohen. You’re damn right they’re going to make my list.

10. Wisconsin (def. BYU, 40-6)

Sure, it appears that even Provo High School could hold BYU under 20 points at this point. But the Badgers put up nearly 500 yards on what is still a pretty solid Cougar defense. The team with maybe the most direct path to the College Football Playoff sure appears interested in following that path.