Spirits are high right now and there is a LOT to be excited about for 2014. I wanted to go back and look at the other seasons with a "name" opener, and how that season played out in comparison to what the fanbase's collective thoughts were after the opener. Obviously I'm just guessing at that part, but I feel like there's probably a few things that were pretty widely thought across the board.

2002 Clemson
Fan thoughts after game-Receivers look good. Greene looked a little shaky but Shockley looks legit. Defense had some highs and lows but should be alright. ST looked solid
Rest of season reality-Mostly right on. Greene ended up being way better than he looked that night, but the defense and ST were great all year and the initial thoughts after the opener were mostly proven accurate. Won the east and SEC.

2003 @Clemson
Fan thoughts after game- nasty defense. Greene not a stat monster but efficient enough. Running game looks servicable. Big play ability from the offense.
Rest of season reality- pretty spot on. Won the east.

2005 Boise St
Fan thoughts after game-Wow. Shockley is amazing. Playmakers everywhere. Defense is incredible. Title contenders?
Rest of season reality-Shockley was great all year and the defense was stout as well. Our 2 regular season losses were with a backup at QB and a game that we simply got outplayed.

2007 Oklahoma St.
Fan thoughts after game-Knowshon looks incredible, as does the running game overall. Stafford looks on point. Defense looks good enough.
Rest of season reality-Pretty spot on. We had a few hiccups in the next month after this game, but then we started to cruise.

2009 @OSU
Fan thoughts after game-Running game is pretty bad. Defense not too bad overall. Cox doesn't look too great. Offense is stagnant.
Rest of season reality-Cox was probably a little better overall than he appeared in this game. As for the running game, I think it was mostly Samuel in this one and we didnt' see too much Ealey/King, so overall the run game was probably a little better than it appeared this game, but not until like halfway through the season. The defense was actually worse, as a whole, than it appeared in this game, IMO.

2011 Boise
Fan thoughts after game-Defense looks shaky. Murray looks ok, run game needs improvement
Rest of season reality-Well, we won 10 games and the east, but we really didn't have any big wins over good teams. UT, AU, and UF were all down for the most part. The run game was better than it looked in the opener, and Murray seemed to improve. The defense got better as well. Boise was ranked 5th coming into the game so they were a tough test. Season played out generally in line with what we could expect after boise.

2013 @Clemson
Fan thoughts after game-Gurley is legit. Murray is much improved, offense could be explosive. Defense is subpar, need to shore up ST.
Rest of season reality-Pretty much right on. Murray and Gurley were awesome, the defense stunk.

2014 Clemson
Fan thoughts after game-Defense could end up being very good. ST is stout. Gurley is the best player in america. Mason is serviceable.
Rest of season reality-???

It's generally impossible to tell what you have after only one game, but honestly looking back at the times we've opened with a "name" opponent, we've been able to get a somewhat fair grasp on what kind of team we have. I don't want to get too high just based on one performance, but I don't think it's unrealistic at all to think that if things continue on and assuming a natural improvement throughout the year (and barring major injuries of course), we could be in for a very special season.