CHARLOTTE — When it comes to stopping No. 23 Virginia, it all starts with the quarterback.

Granted, that is how every defense starts when it comes to slowing down an offense, but in the case of the Cavaliers, it really begins and ends with their quarterback. Bryce Perkins leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in total offense, averaging 303.0 yards per game.

“Without Bryce, I don’t know if we are here right now,” Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

The Cavaliers are in Charlotte to take on No. 3 Clemson in Saturday’s ACC Championship Game. It was behind Perkins 475 total yards in last week’s win over Virginia Tech that got UVA to its first appearance in the title game.

To try and counter Perkins and his ability to change the game, Clemson will likely use ACC Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Simmons to spy on him. Simmons, who leads the Tigers with 89 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks, has the ability to affect the game at all three levels.

Simmons (6-4, 230) has the unique ability to cover anyone in space. He can blitz off the edge or up the middle and he can be physical and attack the ball at the line of scrimmage. He is one of the more complete defensive players in all of college football.

“When you become an elite player, as he is, then schematically there are things you have to do to account for, but there are enough other quality players on the field where if you put undue attention on any one player, the trade-off really doesn’t warrant it because someone else is very capable and I have been impressed,” Mendenhall said.

Some wonder if that applies with Virginia. Either with his arm or his legs, Perkins has carried the Cavaliers all season.

So, Clemson’s game plan is simple … take Perkins away and force someone else to beat them. This is nothing for Virginia. They have seen it every week.

“With the volume of offense he has accounted for, it is almost every week, and rightly so,” Mendenhall said. “Most teams approach is to have someone else be responsible for touchdowns, yardage than him. Our intent is just the opposite. So, we have been able to have enough success, especially the last five, six weeks of the season as our offense has gained its footing, has yielded different points, yardage and production. Finishing really in the ACC second in scoring, but first in time of possession, and that’s a really unique — those are two statistics — to lead in scoring but second in possession. Most of the time it is one or the other. You hold on to the ball and the scoring is minimal, or you can score a lot but the defense is on the field a lot because the tempo is so fast.

“Bryce isn’t all that we have, and the nature of offense is quite different in that way, but hold on to the football a lot of time and score it, which is ideal for our program at this time.”