Tommy Bowden likes to talk about how he “lives in a cave.”

Clemson’s 10th-year head coach claims he doesn’t listen to outside criticism or pressures beyond what sports information director Tim Bourret or athletics director Terry Don Phillips let him know, just so he won’t be caught off-guard in press conferences.

There’s no need for him to buy into the tidal wave of public opinion, really. Just makes his job harder.

If that’s true, then freshman quarterback Willy Korn’s elevation from “man-in-waiting” to “the man” shows just how serious the Tigers’ and Bowden’s predicament is.

At 3-3, 1-2 in the ACC, Clemson is the nation’s biggest bust, going from a No. 9 preseason ranking and ACC title pick to a group which has scored seven points in its last six quarters.

Korn’s new job shows Bowden knows what we’ve all been thinking: the final six games of this season aren’t about fighting for an ACC title as much they are about fighting for his job.

Calling on Korn, a former five-star recruit and fan favorite, is a move of desperation, designed to spark an offense which has shown no signs of life against decent opponents.

Clemson’s offensive line is badly beat up, especially on the interior; guards Jamarcus Grant and Bobby Hutchinson are bottom-of-the-depth chart guys who played at Wake Forest only out of necessity after starters Cory Lambert and Mason Cloy left the game with leg injuries.

Korn gives the offense an added dimension of mobility and ability to turn broken plays into potential gains.

But he doesn’t have senior Cullen Harper’s knowledge of the offense or chemistry with wideouts Aaron Kelly, Tyler Grisham and Jacoby Ford. If Harper is upset about his fall from preseason ACC player of the year to sideline baseball cap, he has every right to be: it isn’t really his fault.

Harper has struggled with downfield passing, throwing four touchdowns against six interceptions (as many as he had in 13 games last season) in six games.

However, those problems seem far more connected to offensive line instability. It is inconceivable that a quarterback who threw for 28 touchdowns against six interceptions as a junior and had NFL first-round talk floating around him this summer suddenly lost those abilities.

He has become a scapegoat for the larger problems surrounding him.

Bowden and Spence didn’t feel this desperation two years ago, when senior Will Proctor’s full-on meltdown contributed heavily to a 1-4 finish and fall from No. 10 national ranking to an 8-5 record.

By exposing Korn to the rugged defenses of Georgia Tech, Boston College and Florida State, Bowden is admitting, however tacitly, that he needs a big finish to save his job and $1.8 million annual salary.

Will it work? Maybe. Maybe not.

But Bowden clearly isn’t interested in saving Korn’s potential for Clemson’s next coach to exploit.

If this is his Clemson swan song, he’s going down clawing and scratching.