It’s said that all good things must come to an end, and Saturday marked the end of something really good for Clemson.

With the 24-17 loss at NC State, Clemson’s historic streak of consecutive 10-win seasons is officially over, as the Tigers sit at four wins with only four remaining regular season games and a possible bowl game left to play.

This year snaps a streak of 12 consecutive 10-win seasons for Dabo Swinney’s program from 2011-22 — the third longest streak in FBS history. Last year, the Tigers joined Florida State and Alabama as the only programs ever to reach 10 wins in a dozen straight seasons.

“We’re going to have to start a new one,” Swinney said following Saturday’s game when asked about the streak of 10-win seasons ending.

“There’s a reason why there’s only three teams in the history of football to do that. I mean, it’s hard to win. But they end somewhere. All streaks come to an end somewhere along the way, and you start a new streak. So, what a run, man. What a freakin’ run. Historic. Nobody wants to hear that right now, but it’s historic what we’ve been able to do as a program, big picture.”

This is the first time since 2011 that Clemson (4-4, 2-4 ACC) has lost four games in a season and the first time since 2010 that Clemson has lost four ACC games in a season.

It’s also the Tigers’ worst start in conference play since 1998, and the first time since November 2011 that they have lost consecutive games in a single season.

“Right now, we’re in a rough patch, and we’ll work our way out of it. There’ll be a lot of great days ahead,” Swinney said. “I’m a person of faith, and you’re either a person of faith or you’re not. You’re a person of faith in the good times and the bad times. Something good’s going to come from it, something great.”

Swinney summed up the way this season has unfolded for his team as “bizarre,” but added he and the Tigers have “a long way to go” with more opportunities in the future.

“I love our guys, and I wish I could take it away. I don’t understand why some of the things have happened the way they’ve happened. It’s been bizarre. Really bizarre. That’s probably the best word I can say, just bizarre,” Swinney said. “But we’ll start a new streak. We’ll see what happens. Got a long way to go, man. What am I, 53, so I got a ways to go. So, hopefully we can put another long streak together, and a lot of great days ahead.”

Swinney says this year’s team is reminiscent, in his mind, of the 2010 team that went 6-7 (4-4 ACC) before Clemson began its run of 10-win campaigns a year later.

“It feels like 2010 to me for whatever reason,” Swinney said. “I go back to that year in 2010, it’s one of my favorite teams that I’ve had. It’s the worst team from a record standpoint, but that team, they just battled every single week. Two overtime losses, we lost five games by six points or less, we were in every game, and it was painful. We came back the next year and won the league. We won 10 games for the first time in 20 years. I remember vividly saying, ‘Hey, that’s great. Let’s go put four or five of these years together and then we can feel good about it.’ Well, I didn’t know it was going to be a 12-year streak.”

Swinney and the Tigers will attempt to get back on track beginning this Saturday when they host Notre Dame at Death Valley (12 p.m., ABC).

Clemson has fallen on hard times, but Swinney says nobody is pitying his program – and he “ain’t asking for anybody to feel sorry for the Tigers,” either.

“It’s been an amazing run, and I hate that it doesn’t go on forever. But that one’s over, so now we go back to work and we’ll reset our eyes, let go of the dead yesterdays and focus on what we control, and that is how we respond, how we practice this week,” Swinney said.

“I do love this team. I mean, I really do, and I wish I could take it away. … There’s been some freaky, bizarre things that have happened, but that’s where we are. Ain’t nobody going to feel sorry for the Tigers, and I ain’t asking for anybody to feel sorry for the Tigers. We just gotta keep moving, and we will. We will. Hopefully we can win a game somewhere along the way.”

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