We lost a game we had no business losing, others have too this season and will continue to do so. This is college football, where most anything an happen outside maybe the top 10 or so teams, no one is really DOMINANT in a way that we can't punch above our weight and win against.
I think we are better than the NIU game showed us to be. There were a number of things that happened that led to the loss, I won't repeat them here because it doesn't do anyone any value and it makes me sad/annoyed to think about again. It is likely in my opinion that we see continued improvement throughout this year and I could see wins in the UNC, Pitt, Duke and BC games without really breaking reality too much. Picking off Clemson/UGA ND(being up there is tough) seems highly unlikely, but the rest are winnable coinflips to me (UVA, VT, UM).
I wouldn't be surprised/unsatisfied by anything in the 6 win range this season and would be thrilled to get to 8 total (regular season).
Against Clemson we will see if we have the ability to chip them and slow them down via the Line play on both sides of the ball, but barring a huge disaster or highly unanticipated miracle game I don't think we learn much more next week, other than Clemson is legitimately elite and we are not yet. Need to stay healthy, not make stupid decisions and treat this with the reality of what it is.