Terrion Arnold trolls Ainias Smith over his pregame comments on Nick Saban

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•10/07/23•

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In the week leading up to Saturday’s Alabama–Texas A&M game, there was some back and forth between the two teams. Aggies wide receiver Ainias Smith had some personal feelings about facing the Crimson Tide, wanting to get back at Nick Saban over a prior relationship within his family. Terrion Arnold was looking to defend his head coach, responding to Smith during a press conference.

When talking about Saban, Smith claimed to know what Saban wanted, not providing too much context.

“I know what Nick Saban wants, and we’re gonna mess that up,” Smith said on Monday. “You know what I’m saying? If them boys don’t got no momentum for real, we’re gonna have to take that away, immediately, for sure.”

Arnold was confused by the statement, saying he does not even know what Saban wants despite playing for him for three seasons.

“I’ve seen something that says he knows what Coach Saban wants,” Arnold said. “When I have seen that, I was like ‘What does Coach Saban want?’ I’ve been here three years and I don’t know what the guy wants. So, I don’t really know. If we’re being really honest, I don’t really know.”

Well, in the game itself, Arnold came out on top and Alabama is leaving College Station with a win. Arnold decided to send out a tweet before hopping back on the plane home, trolling Smith a bit. Maybe taking down Texas A&M was what Saban wanted all along.

To be fair to Smith, he did have a nice performance. Four receptions for 88 yards led Texas A&M in both categories but he was not able to score a touchdown. Everyone inside of Kyle Field thought he did at one point but Smith wound up stepping out of bounds — a critical play that completely changed the final minutes of the game.

Smith backed up his preseason smack talk to some degree but it was only on a personal level. His goal ending into the afternoon was coming out with a win. Texas A&M came up just short and now has a loss attached to their SEC record.

Getting some trash talk from opposing teams is nothing new for Alabama. More times than not, they are able to come out and back up whatever was thrown at them. Arnold just wanted to make sure he was there to back up his head coach in a huge game.