The Oxford Dictionary defines vengeance as “punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.”
That’s the exact word that Texas A&M wide receiver Ainias Smith used during his postgame press conference on Saturday as the Aggies turn the page to a matchup with Tennessee this Saturday afternoon in Knoxville.
Texas A&M showed fight and grit against No. 11 Alabama during the first half of Saturday’s clash but fell behind Alabama’s offense in the second half, leading to a 26-20 loss to the Tide in College Station.
Smith says that he wants his team to bottle up all of that emotion in the loss and use it to fuel their fire in preparing for Josh Heupel’s Top 20-ranked Tennessee Volunteers this week.
“We have to learn from this game,” Smith said in his postgame press conference. “All the negative, all the positive, and bring everything together. Come together as one, don’t divide. Stay together as a team and we just need to build off of this game, and go in [to the next game] almost angry. Come back for vengeance.”
The Texas A&M Aggies are looking to inflict punishment for their loss to Alabama, and the Tennessee Volunteers are next on the schedule.
Fortunately for Tennessee, though, the Vols have two streaks that are certainly working in their favor. According to ESPN’s Chris Low, Tennessee has won their last 12 straight home games while Texas A&M has lost their last seven true road games. That sounds in favor of Heupel’s Volunteers.
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Tennessee also has the benefit of having the open date prior to this A&M matchup while the Aggies are coming off of that emotionally draining defeat in front of 100,000+ of their home fans.
Texas A&M will travel up to Rocky Top with a 4-2, 2-1 SEC record this season through the first six games. The Aggies’ two losses have come on the road in Miami (48-33 L) and against Alabama (26-20 L). Texas A&M defeated UL Monroe, Auburn, and Arkansas by a combined score of 108-35 in between those two losses.
Ainias Smith, a graduate senior in the Aggies’ program, had a monster day against Tennessee in Knoxville during the 2020 season. Smith racked up 70 yards and one touchdown on the ground while also hauling in 29 receiving yards with one score through the air.
No. 19 Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC) will host Texas A&M (4-2, 2-1 SEC) this Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET in Knoxville’s Neyland Stadium. CBS Sports will have the broadcast on television.
Here are the highlights from Texas A&M’s loss to Alabama on Saturday afternoon in College Station, Texas.
