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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina has a chance to somewhat make history Saturday night, at least recent history.

The No. 23 Tar Heels will take on No. 9 Clemson in the ACC championship game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, and if they pull off a victory, it will be the first for UNC in 42 years.

The task is significant, however. Clemson is 10-2 after finishing 8-0 in the ACC. Prognosticators have the Tigers beating the 9-3 (6-2 ACC) Heels, some eve expect a lopsided game.

That said, here is a scouting report on the Clemson Tigers by way of the North Carolina Tar Heels:

Note: These quotes came from UNC’s press conferences this week.

Mack Brown: “They’ve got the best group of defensive players in the country. I mean they’re front line and linebackers are draft choices. You look at them, you look at Georgia, and you see two of the best defensive teams in the country. That’s just who they are. They have recruited that well. Their secondary has been young and banged up some like ours, but they’re playing much, much better.

“Offensively, the quarterback has come back and lost a bunch of weight. He is a load. He is so hard to tackle and Will Shipley, who we knew in high school is one of the best running backs in the country. They’ve always got great skill outside and they’re tall. So, they throw the ball up outside, so they’re just a handful with everything they do.

“They’re well coached, they’re confident, they expect to win, they’re deep, and people have not been able to run the ball at all and then it’s hard to pass protect. Look at their number of sacks and talking about us not having many. They got a bunch of sacks and a bunch of pressures and a bunch of tackles for loss. That’s just who they are.”

Phil Longo: “I would say that this Clemson front seven is elite and I would say that you’re going to see most of those guys playing at the next level. The front four are really, really impressive you know. They’re really impressive and the linebacking core, it’s hard to say that they’re the strength because their d-line is good but that front seven is you know right now in my opinion that’s the strength of their football team. That’s no disrespect to their secondary.”

Gene Chizik: (On Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei) “I’ve seen a guy that you know is a great competitor. Obviously, a threat in the run game that’s number one he’s got. They do a great job at designing plays, and designed quarterback runs. He is hard to bring down. He’s really, really good in the open field. He’s got a big arm. I think he can make all the throws. You can see him make a lot of downfield deep shots.

“When he’s on, they’re extremely accurate and very dangerous throws that he can make. He’s got some big receivers on the perimeter that can go up and get the ball. You know when he’s hot, he is really good. And so you got to pressure him but then again you have to be smart at how you do that because the quarterback run game can come back and bite you a little bit.

“If you’re not very cognizant all the times of a potential quarterback runs because they get you down a guy in terms of numbers. But he’s a very good quarterback, so we got our hands full.”

DE/Jack Kaimon Rucker: “There a really good team. They got two powerful backs. We got to do what we do. Just stop the run and I feel we showcased that against NC State. We got to replicate that this weekend as well because if one of them get loose, it’s going to be hard to track them down. So, we just got to make sure we stop the run and put them in situations on third down so they have to pass.

“And at that point, we got to put pressure on the quarterback. We got to put the pressure on DJ. We’ve got to cover on the back with their talented receivers. We just got to lock on little things. I feel like that’s all we have to do in order to make a change in this game.”

LB Cedric Gray: “I think the biggest thing that impresses me is kind of their scheme of run game. I think it’s pretty creative especially when they get the quarterback involved and got guys motioning and pullers. They like to run power toss QB scheme. You know it’s pretty dynamic kind of scheme, so that’s definitely one thing that really sticks out to me.

“I think the biggest thing is like I said kind of stopping that run game. Knowing if we can kind of slow that down and kind of make it more of a passing game. I think it kind of makes it a little bit easier for you when you get to those later downs. It’s not third and three or third and four, but it’s third and ten. So, really kind of finding ways to own it and stopping that run.”

Gray on DJU: “I definitely still believe that he is a good player and I don’t think he’s probably the level of player maybe of Trevor Lawrence or Deshaun Watson was, but I think he’s still a pretty good player. If we give him time and we don’t put no pressure on him or we don’t cover guys, I think he does still have the ability to pick us apart. So, regardless of that we have to come prepared and ready.”

WR Josh Downs: “I’ve always known a lot of Clemson DBs since I was in high school. Nate Wiggins, I played seven-on-seven with him about three years. Jalyn Phillips, he grew up in Gwinnett County with me. I played RJ Mickens when I was in the All-American Bowl. And they got a few other guys (Brent) Venable’s son on that team I played with him one time too.

“So, their secondary got a lot of kids I know. I went to high school with Barrett Carter for three years, so he starts at nickel. So, I mean I’m very familiar with them guys. They’re very talented and I mean they stack up pretty well pretty much good with the rest of the ACC. I know they’re very talented players so I’m coming in this week working each day trying to get better and focusing.”

QB Drake Maye: “Their front seven is about as good as it gets in college football. They rotate some guys on the d-line; d-line is unbelievable. I think they’ll have some guys that will go in the drafts this upcoming year. Their linebacker play maybe the two kids in my class and then Trenton (Simpson) from Charlotte. He’s from around where I grew up, seeing him playing in high school. Phenomenal players.

"They got some athletes in the back end. They are stout all around. They are going to try to stop the run. I think that’s their identity, so just try to find a way to exploit them. They will mix up the fronts and stuff. They will try to mix up the coverages. We going to try to figure out what they’re going to do against us and play from there.”

On a tweet he sent Clemson RB Will Shipley a few years ago: “Obviously, we recruited Will (Shipley) hard. He’s a North Carolina kid. I think his parents went to NC State though. I knew him in high school well. I was seeing him in camps and stuff. He tweeted out his commitment to Clemson and I think I said ‘Congrats, I’ll see you in the ACC Championship’ and two years later we’re at this moment. I will see him in pre-game. He’s one of my good friends and I keep up with him. It’s been fun watching him this year.”