After breaking its 15-year losing streak to Virginia Tech and locking up the Coastal Division, No. 23 UVa gets the reward of playing in its first ACC Championship Game on Saturday night in Charlotte (7:30 p.m., ABC).

Of course, what awaits the Hoos at Bank of America Stadium this season isn’t the same South Carolina school they faced last December. Instead, they get No. 3 Clemson, the defending national champs and easily one of the nation’s best teams.

The matchup against the Tigers will be the first for UVa since 2013, which was itself the first meeting between the schools in four years. While Clemson has won the last three in this series, before that the Wahoos had won three of the last four. But given that they didn’t beat the Tigers for the first 29 meetings, it’s understandable that Clemson has dominated this series.

To date, the Cavaliers have never won the ACC crown outright, sharing it in 1989 (Duke) and 1995 (Florida State), though UVa won the head-to-head meetings with both of those schools those seasons.

No. 3 Clemson Tigers (12-0, 8-0 ACC)

Head coach: Dabo Swinney, 12th season (128-30)

Series: Clemson leads the all-time series 38-8-1.

Last Meeting: The Tigers beat the Hoos 59-10 at Scott Stadium in 2013.

-- Clemson has one of the nation’s top offenses as the Tigers are scoring 45.3 points per contest and have scored 40+ in all but three games, and 50+ points on six occasions. Since narrowly escaping UNC in Chapel Hill in late September, they are putting up 50.4 points and their average margin of victory is 41.7. Clemson is explosive, relentless, and balanced. The Tigers average 7.4 yards per play, which is fourth-best nationally behind Oklahoma, LSU, and Alabama. They are second in yards per carry at 6.5 and 10th nationally in rushing yards per game. Clemson has racked up more than 3,000 rushing yards and has gone for 200+ rushing yards in nine of its 12 games with a pair of games over 400 rushing yards (Georgia Tech and Wofford). Through the air, Clemson is just as lethal: The Tigers have amassed 3,424 passing yards on the season with 34 touchdowns. They are also good on 3rd downs, converting 46.3 percent of their attempts, which is a few spots higher than Virginia in the national rankings. Clemson’s red zone performance is decent, but not as elite as they are in nearly every other area.

-- In the run game, Virginia will be tasked with stopping the ACC Player of the Year Travis Etienne. One of the nation’s dominant backs, he has rushed 168 times for 1,386 yards with 16 rushing touchdowns. That’s an average of 8.25 yards per carry, a staggering number for a feature back playing in a power conference. Etienne is a threat in the passing game as well. The junior back has caught 28 passes for 289 yards on the season, which ranks ahead of plenty of talented ACC wide receivers in receptions. South Carolina’s defense did a decent job bottling up Etienne last week, holding him under 100 yards rushing for the first time since that game at Carolina in September. Still, he found the end zone twice in a game that quickly became uncompetitive. When Clemson spells Etienne, the Tigers bring in another talented back in sophomore Lyn-J Dixon, who has rushed for 572 yards on 94 attempts this season, scoring five times in the ground.

-- In addition, dealing with Clemson’s passing game will be a big time challenge for a Virginia secondary that isn’t at full strength. Sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence needs no introduction after leading the Tigers to a national title in January and entering this season as a Heisman favorite. In his sophomore campaign, Lawrence has been quietly excellent, flying under the radar a bit with the emergence of Joe Burrow, Justin Fields, and others around the country. Lawrence has thrown for 30 touchdowns and eight picks with 2,870 yards. Those numbers might not jump off the page but they’re all the more impressive when you consider Clemson’s margin of victory and how many times Lawrence either left games early or didn’t need to throw down the stretch. He had some issues with turnovers early in the season, throwing five picks in his first three games of the year. But Lawrence hasn’t thrown an interception since playing at Louisville on October 19th, with 16 touchdowns in five games since. He is fortunate to be surrounded by a group of explosive receivers on offense. The two stars are junior Tee Higgins and sophomore Justyn Ross, who have combined for 95 catches, 1,548 yards, and 17 touchdowns. Those two are each capable of winning 50/50 balls or taking the top off the defense at any point. Higgins and Ross, complemented by Amari Rodgers, Diondre Overton and others, make Clemson’s passing game the most talented and challenging the Cavaliers have faced in the Bronco Mendenhall era by far.

-- Clemson also has one of the nation’s top defenses. On the year, the Tigers have allowed just 121 points, or 10.1 per game. No team has scored more than 20 points and eight of their 12 opponents have been held to 10 points or less. The Tigers are allowing just 3.8 yards per play, which is second only to Ohio State. The Tigers are one of 10 teams in the nation to allow less than three yards per carry on the ground. They are the third elite run defense UVa has played this season (Pittsburgh and Miami are the others). Clemson is also seventh nationally in 3rd-down conversions allowed, with opponents reaching or passing the line to gain just 28.3 percent of the time. The Tigers are stingy in the red zone, allowing 15 scores on 21 red zone trips this year, with just eight touchdowns to seven field goals. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables is one of the nation’s top defensive minds, and considering how much talent the Tigers lost to the NFL in the offseason what he has been able to do with this year’s defense may be his best work to date.

-- Like Virginia, Clemson’s defense does a great job creating sacks and tackles for loss. On the season, the Tigers have 36 sacks, or three per game, with 99 tackles for loss. For comparison, Virginia is sixth nationally in sacks with 43 and have 87 TFLs. Clemson’s defense is anchored by do-everything linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year earlier this week. Simmons is a dynamic player with great size and despite his 6-foot-4, 230-pound frame can get after the quarterback but also drop into coverage. He leads the Tigers in sacks with seven and in TFLs with 14.5. Simmons also has 82 total tackles, five pass break-ups, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and an interception. Virginia will need to find a way to block No. 11 on Saturday night and keep him from terrorizing Bryce Perkins in the backfield.

-- Virginia’s best recipe for success against Clemson’s defense will be to keep the chains moving with its short to intermediate passing game. Like the rest of the team, Clemson’s secondary is not easily exploited. Opponents have thrown for just 1,518 yards on the season (126.5 yards per game) with six touchdowns and 14 interceptions. The Tigers have allowed just 60 1st downs through the air this year, so UVa will have to find a way to do what nobody else has seemed to do and find consistent success. Clemson has six defensive backs who have recorded an interception on the season, led by safety Tanner Muse, who has four to his credit. Fellow defensive back and Richmond native K’Von Wallace has a pair of picks and returned one for a touchdown in the September win over Charlotte. Junior cornerback A.J. Terrell has two interceptions on the year as well, and his matchup with Hasise Dubois on Saturday should be one to watch.