Dabo Swinney feels that Clemson is 'three plays away from being 4-0'

Clemson is not going to make the College Football Playoff this season. It seemed like a strong possibility when the Tigers lost, 28-7, to Duke to start the season. Clemson fate was basically confirmed this past weekend with a 31-24 loss to No. 4 Florida State at home.

To be fair, the Tigers can still pick up the pieces and have one heck of a successful season, but you can already hear that nostalgia in the air when head coach Dabo Swinney talks about this 2023 team.

With two losses already under his belt, Swinney is already playing the "what could have been" game.

"We got a lot of really, really talented guys on this team that, you know, they’re learning a lot of lessons. They’re learning that every game is the biggest game of the year at a place like Clemson. And they’re learning that the difference in championship caliber games is one play. Literally, one play," Swinney told the media on Tuesday (h/t On3).

“I mean, these guys, without a doubt are three plays away from being 4-0. That’s a fact. And being top three, four in the country and everybody’s telling them how great they are. That’s how small the margin for error is when you’re in championship-level football.”

Swinney is right in a sense. Clemson took No. 4 FSU to the wire this past Sunday, losing in overtime in large part to a missed 29-yard field goal with 1:45 to go in the game that would have broken a 24-24 tie in the Tigers' favor.

Still, Clemson wasn't just "a few plays away" from beating Duke, which clearly looked like the better team in Week 1. The Tigers will also almost certainly be underdogs against their remaining currently-ranked opponents this season: No. 18 Miami, No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 15 North Carolina.

Like it or not, it's just not Clemson's year to make another CFP run. For the record, the last time the Tigers did make the CFP was in 2019-20, when they lost to Joe Burrow's LSU team in the final, 42-25.

Clemson hasn't been the same since.