With Clemson’s loss to SMU last Saturday, the 3-4 Tigers are now on the verge of missing bowl eligibility for the first time since 2004.

What looked like a promising mid-season resurgence the past couple of weeks for Clemson turned out to be nothing more than a fluke. Now, with only three wins at the end of October, the Tigers are on life support for bowl eligibility.

Four losses before November were very likely not on Dabo Swinney’s, nor anybody else who supports the team’s bingo cards for 2025.

With that being said, the path for the Tigers to end the season does not get any easier.

Clemson will play five games in November, four of which are against Power 4 opponents. The Tigers’ next five games are at home against Duke, a home battle with Florida State, a trip to Louisville, the home finale against Furman and a visit to South Carolina for the Palmetto Bowl.

This slate, while perhaps not intimidating to Clemson 10 years ago, now shapes up to be a challenging way to end what has already been a difficult season.

It appears Clemson’s second bye week could not have come at a better time, as the Tigers will need all the rest they can get before they attack this season’s challenging home stretch. Assuming Clemson handles Furman, it will still need to add two more games to the win column to become bowl-eligible.

For frustrated Tiger fans, this raises the obvious question: Where are these wins going to come from?

While their 4-3 record may not be eye-popping, the Duke Blue Devils are having a solid season behind transfer quarterback Darian Mensah. Clemson has struggled to defend the pass all year, and Mensah has all the potential in the world to continue to expose the Tigers’ secondary come Nov. 1.

Now on to Florida State. Yes, the Seminoles have lost four straight games after their blazing 3-0 start, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t a talented football team — the same one that beat Alabama in Week 1.

For reference, this Tide squad just knocked off four ranked SEC opponents in a row and looks like one of the top teams in the country.

Clemson then travels to Louisville on a Friday night in the middle of November. Not only is L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium one of the most underrated atmospheres in all of college football, but head coach Jeff Brohm has already proven himself as a Clemson killer with the Cardinals’ 33-21 victory over the Tigers last year.

Finally, Clemson closes the regular season on the road at South Carolina. Head coach Shane Beamer is no stranger to beating Clemson, as he has done so twice in his young career as head coach. With LaNorris Sellers under center as well, the Gamecocks are a tough ask for any team.

With all of this being said, Clemson still has the potential to run the table and finish the regular season at a respectable 8-4, much like it did to end the 2023 season after a 4-4 start.

Whether the Tigers will finally get on some sort of track or continue to disappoint remains to be determined. Nevertheless, it will be very interesting to see if this struggling Clemson squad can keep its program’s bowl-game streak alive — a streak of over 20 years.