While Clowney is good and more talented than Teo, I do not think he is more excellent or more consistently excellent (he might be equally excellent, in his respective role).
Clowney: 49 tackes, 4.5 tackles per game
Teo: 101 tackles, 8.5 tackles per game
Clowney: 36 solo, 3.3 per game
Teo: 46 solo, 3.8 per game
Clowney: 13 sacks, 1.2 per game
Teo: 1.5 sacks
Clowney: 0 interceptions
Teo: 7 interceptions
Clowney can get to the quarterback; Teo is not a pass rusher. Teo can pick the ball off pretty well for a LB; Clowney does not drop in coverage. Thus, the last two statistics seem to be a wash.
When it comes to tackles, I will admit that Clowney's stats are hurt by the fact that other teams gameplan away from Clowney; and, MLBs usually always have high tackle counts.
Being the lynch pin on one of the best defenses in the country, the strength (the defense not Teo) of the #1 team in the country, certainly helps Teo. It might be unfair that being on a defense that surrendered 44 points to Florida hurts Clowney.
This would bother me if it was clear to me that Clowney is a more excellent, and consistently excellent, player than Teo; but, that is not clear to me. Thus, Teo gets the nod from me for a handful of huge plays that sealed crucial victories for ND (pick against OU, goal line stands against USC and Stanford).