Dabo Swinney has to be frustrated following Clemson’s 27-21 overtime loss to NC State, but really, everyone could see a loss coming for a couple of weeks.

Clemson’s offense has been on life support, and it’s looked like it hasn’t been able to bust a grape in September, even with 5-star QB DJ Uiagalelei at the helm. Uiagalelei, as he has all season, struggled again Saturday in the loss to the Wolfpack, connecting on just 12 of 26 passing attempts for 111 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 INT.

Swinney was asked after the game about the quarterback position moving forward, and he thinks it’s still Uiagalelei.

“I thought D.J. gave us a chance to win the game tonight,” Swinney said in the Tigers postgame press conference. “I think D.J. is our quarterback.”

Clemson’s College Football Playoff hopes are now dead. The good news — Clemson doesn’t play a ranked opponent for the rest of the year. The bad news — there are still losses ahead if the offense and Uiagalelei can’t get going.

When most programs lose once in a decade-type stars like Trevor Lawrence, there are setbacks. It happens everywhere except Alabama. Look at Auburn post-Cam Newton, Florida post-Tim Tebow, Texas A&M post-Johnny Manziel and so on. Losing Lawrence was a bigger deal than most figured. Also, losing Travis Etienne was a huge blow to this Tigers offense.

How many more losses will Clemson have this year?