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As the spread approaches four touchdowns and the national consensus borders on unanimity, Pitt’s Saturday night date with Clemson seems to have an inevitable outcome:
The Tigers, ranked No. 2 in the nation and considered Alabama’s stiffest competition in the College Football Playoffs, are expected to face little resistance from the Panthers in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte.
As for Pitt, the players and coaches aren’t necessarily playing the disrespect card. Rather, it’s more of a disregard.
“I don’t know exactly for every game, but I know for most of the games this year, people have us not winning,” redshirt senior fullback George Aston said Wednesday. “So we really are used to it and really don’t care what anyone else says or thinks.”
Aston’s not too far off in his recall. Of Pitt’s 11 games against FBS opponents this season, the Panthers were favored to win in just three: North Carolina (which they lost), Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
But there’s more to it than just the per-game betting lines. Pitt didn’t receive a single first-place vote in the preseason ACC polls, and the Panthers were generally considered long shots to reach Saturday’s game in Charlotte.
“I mean, it’s all about us,” Aston said. “We take care of what we can control. Obviously the media and other people don’t really respect us. We’re fine with that. It’s pretty much anything you could expect.
“We already know that that’s how people view us and everything.”
In fact, Aston doesn’t even think an upset of Clemson on Saturday would change the perception all that much - and he’s fine with that.
“We know nobody respects us or gives us any credit, even when we have great games,” he said. “And even after we win and everything, they’ll probably still find a way to discredit us or Clemson will have a bad game or something. But we don’t really care at all. It’s all about us, everybody in this building coming together and getting it done.”
So Aston and his teammates will go back to work, spending this week learning from last Saturday’s loss at Miami and preparing for this week’s showdown with one of the best teams in the nation. The Panthers aren’t new to facing top-ranked teams, of course - “We really do have some good luck against number-two teams,” Aston said - but on Saturday they’ll be on the biggest stage any of the roster has experienced.
The game in Charlotte is an opportunity to make Pitt’s eighth victory of the season a signature win and put another trophy in the Panthers’ facility next to the one they received for winning the Coastal Division.
Maybe, if they can pull that off, the team will see some recognition. Or not. For Aston and his teammates, it really doesn’t seem to matter.
“Winning an ACC championship’s a big deal, so if people credit us and give us respect, cool; if they don’t, even better.”
