North Carolina welcomes the No. 1 team in the nation to Kenan Stadium on Saturday, as defending national champion Clemson pays the Tar Heels a visit.

The Tigers come in with a 19-game winning streak while the Tar Heels have dropped their last two games and sit at 2-2.

Here are 5 Questions about Clemson with Cris Ard of Tiger Illustrated:

There’s some chatter about Trevor Lawrence having thrown five interceptions so far, is this anything Clemson fans should be worried about or is a stretch where sometimes guys throw picks and he’s actually fine?

The five interceptions to this point certainly prove that Lawrence is human. Dabo Swinney pushed back on some of the concern over the picks two weeks ago, telling reporters that two of those five picks were on Clemson's wideouts and not Lawrence. Lawrence has forced some throws early. He's taken some risks and has forced a few low-percentage throws. Having said that, if you polled the 80,000+ in Death Valley on Saturdays, I'm quite confident none of them would trade Lawrence for any player in the country at his position. I would also add that one quarter of the way into his sophomore season, he is now a perfect 15-0 as a starting quarterback.

Clemson’s defensive line from last year is in the NFL, so how have the Tigers pretty much picked up where that group left off with a new cast up front?

In short, talent. Consider this: (DE) Xavier Thomas was a five-star prospect out of high school. (DT) starters Nyles Pinckney and Tyler Davis were four-star prospects. (DE) starter Logan Rudolph was a top 10 instate prospect who fielded nearly 40 offers. Others in the rotation also were highly recruited. Backup (DT) Jordan Williams received a mid-level 4-star rating out of high school, (DE) Justin Foster, who has two starts, also was a 4-star rated prospect. (DE) K.J. Henry is averaging almost 25 snaps a game and is now in the rotation. He was a five-star prospect out of high school.

They've won a lot of recruiting battles over the last several years, but particularly up front on defense where they have signed a high volume of nationally regarded out-of-state prospects. Thomas is a sophomore, but saw a lot of playing time last year, as did Pinckney. Thomas came into the season regarded as one of the nation's top pass-rushers. Tyler Davis has been difficult to move ever since he arrived on campus in January. Long before August camp, he earned the trust of the staff.

Is Clemson’s ground attack better than last year with Travis Etienne and company, and if so how is it better?

I think it can be, yes. It can match or exceed last year's rushing output, statistically, over the course of the season. They've got a potential first rounder in Etienne, who is stronger and in better shape as a junior. This is probably his last year. He's also got a chance to be the program's all-time leading rusher. It's a record that has stood for 22 years. And Etienne is not a guy they put through a grinder. He's averaging just 13 carries a game. Lyn-J Dixon would be starting for most power 5 programs. He's explosive, hits the hole with authority and has made substantial improvement as a blocker. In addition, across-the-board, this is probably Clemson's best offensive line since Dabo has been head coach. To belabor the obvious, that helps.

What is something this Clemson team has shown it does really well that is an improvement over last season, or at least something that has surprised the fans and media that cover the program?

A couple of things. Brent Venables is just an exceptional defensive coordinator. And we know that. We've always known that. But it's still quite remarkable to see them have a legitimate opportunity to field another top 10 defense, given the amount of NFL talent that walked out the door last winter. Those players started for a reason. Those players were drafted for a reason. Back in August, I felt they could be top 15-20 good. And that would have been sufficient. Let's not forget, Auburn played for a national title in 2010 allowing 350+ yards a game defensively. It then played for another national title in 2013, allowing 420+ yards a game. So it's not as if Clemson has to field a top 10 defense in order to be a top five team and a national title contender. But, four games in, that's where they are defensively. A top 10 finish (total yardage/scoring) is certainly a real possibility.

Clemson's administration made a sizable, financial commitment to Venables in the off-season. He now earns $2 million a year. What this means is that they have effectively priced him out of a lot of FBS head coaching jobs. At this point, I don't believe he would leave Clemson unless it were for an opportunity where he had a chance to win a national title. It would have to be a situation where he could lead a program that has a lot of history and tradition.

Secondly, Dabo has remained committed to playing a lot of players. And he's been questioned about that from time to time. It's not uncommon to see him field a question about why a starter was pulled early or why a lot of substitutions occurred when a game was on the line. But this happens for two reasons. No. 1, he inserts a backup because he believes the backup deserves to play. No. 2, he's got a longterm horizon when it comes to development.

He's interested in developing his roster. It's a big part of the culture he has built at Clemson. And players buy into it. It's easier said than done, believe me. Think about it. If you're a highly touted recruit and you're used to piling up a lot of stats, certainly you want the ball. Whose name do you want called over the PA system? Yours or someone else's? Whose name do you want in the record books, the box score? Yours or someone else's? But you don't see selfishness with players, particularly key players who are considered All-conference and All-American material.

Most programs don't have this culture, but it exists at Clemson. And it's a reflection of the head coach. He's going to be in a position to substitute a lot more this year. Last week, he played a program-record 111 players.

What is your prediction for the game and why?

These two teams have met six times in Chapel Hill over the last 25 years and both own a 3-3 record against one another in that span. But the talent discrepancy between the two programs hasn't been this lopsided since Mack Brown took over for Dick Crum in the late 1980's.

I personally have deep respect for Mack Brown. And I respect what he built at North Carolina in the 1990's, particularly in his final two years when he compiled a 21-3 record, also hand-delivering a top five recruiting class to Carl Torbush in 1998 weeks after he left for Texas. Let's face it, Brown wouldn't be back in Chapel Hill if there weren't problems. He's got good players, but those players weren't realizing their potential under Larry Fedora. And Brown's team in 2019 isn't indicative of what he'll have three to four years from now. I mention that because he deserves an opportunity to recruit to his philosophy, so that means four, five recruiting classes and the time it takes to develop them.

The spread, 26-27 points, which is where the spread is at the time of this writing, is a fairly large number, especially for a road game and especially when you weigh it against Dabo's philosophy of mass substitutions. Two weeks ago, he made it clear that he wasn't interested in humiliating teams. He's interested in developing his roster, which means getting quality snaps to backups when games are on the line.

I would have a high conviction on that number - a 26/27-point spread - if we were just evaluating whether Clemson was 26/27 points better than UNC. My position is that Clemson is. But on the road and in a game where there could again be significant substitutions from Clemson, it would not surprise me to see North Carolina cover.

I've got Clemson comfortably and by at least three touchdowns, but I give favorable odds to North Carolina to walk away with a cover.