BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The big hit against Michigan in last year's Outback Bowl and some Heisman talk are most of what Jadeveon Clowney hears about these days.
But the country's best defensive player and a likely No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft wants more.
"The goal for me is to win the SEC," Clowney said on Tuesday at SEC Media Days at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover. "The Heisman could come, but I'm not really focused on that. I haven't really thought about it. If it happens, I'll be excited."
Clowney had 13 sacks and 23.5 tackles for loss last year, as the 6-foot-6, 265-pound (he said he'd be 275 by the season opener) freak of nature won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award as a sophomore.
Defensive players don't normally win the Heisman Trophy for college football's best player. The last one was Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997. Clowney could buck that trend, even with last year's winner Johnny Manziel returning as Texas A&M's quarterback. He finished sixth in last year's Heisman voting.
"Yeah (he could win the Heisman)," Florida offensive lineman Jon Halapio said. "You should play against him. You'll feel the same way."
The play that still sticks fresh in the minds of college football fans is Clowney's hit of Michigan running back Vincent Smith knocked Smith's helmet off, forcing a fumble that Clowney himself recovered to set up the Gamecocks' win.
"Hell of a hit," said Missouri wide receiver L'Damian Washington, who compared Clowney to former Missouri standout Aldon Smith, who went No. 7 in the 2011 NFL Draft to the San Francisco 49ers. "It was SportsCenter's No. 1 play, the best of the best, for a long time. You have to appreciate plays like that."
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier said the play was a missed block on Michigan's part. Clowney said he tried to find Smith and reach out to him, but has not been able to.
"I was just happy when it happened," Clowney said. "Now, it's like, 'Aw man, it's still going on?' It's a great honor to do something big and everybody recognizes it."
Clowney said two more plays during the season that were perhaps more important didn't get as much recognition. He stripped Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray of the ball and had a big sack late against Tennessee in wins.
What else about Clowney was notable from SEC Media Days? He recently was clocked at a 4.4 in the 40-yard dash. Spurrier said he wouldn't get a chance to play offense because it wouldn't make sense for him to be running with the ball and sprain an ankle. Clowney also stressed how he stays off the internet and Twitter, doesn't drink or go to bars and mostly hangs out with three lifelong friends, going out to eat and then going home.
"You can't get in trouble at your own home," he said.
Clowney also mentioned how Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd,
Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson and Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray were "scared" when the Gamecocks played those teams. Tennessee offensive tackle Antonio "Tiny" Richardson "was the best at holding and getting away with it" and that he gained six pounds in two days this summer eating nothing but peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. "It was killing my throat," he said.
Despite the early-season win over Georgia, the Gamecocks finished behind the Bulldogs in the SEC East and watched a team they beat nearly knock off eventual national champion Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
The Gamecocks went 11-2, with the season-ending win over Michigan. There certainly is a lot of talent returning, including quarterbacks Connor Shaw and Dylan Thompson and wide receiver Bruce Ellington.
Spurrier took South Carolina from general mediocrity in his first five years at the school to title contenders in his last three, as the Gamecocks went 9-5 before back-to-back 11-2 seasons. There has not been an SEC title yet.
"They train like champions," Spurrier said of his players. "We know we're not favored to win it, but we think we're going to have a team capable. That's something we have not done at South Carolina, won a conference championship, and we have hopes to do it."
SEC Media Days 2013: South Carolina Gamecocks
- South Carolina star Jadeveon Clowney focused on leading Gamecocks to SEC title
- Scarbinsky: Steve Spurrier for SEC commissioner! All in favor? Aye!
- South Carolina's Connor Shaw ranks AJ McCarron higher than Johnny Manziel among SEC's best quarterbacks
- South Carolina's Connor Shaw welcomes two-quarterback system, part-time role as receiver
- Video: Coach Steve Spurrier
- Video: Jadeveon Clowney
- Video: QB Connor Shaw
- Video: WR Bruce Ellington
- Quick hits: South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier at SEC Media Days