Terrion Arnold responds to Ainias Smith's comments about Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Texas A&M wide receiver Ainias Smith made headlines on Monday when he called this weekend’s matchup with No. 11 Alabama “is always more personal” to him.

Smith is the younger brother of former Crimson Tide defensive back Maurice Smith, who looked to follow Kirby Smart to Georgia in 2016 but was initially blocked by Alabama before being given a release to immediately play for the Bulldogs. On Monday, Smith compared his brother’s team in Tuscaloosa to the one he will face on Saturday, Oct. 7, in College Station.

“I kind of know what Nick Saban expects from his offense, from his defensive side,” Smith said. “I’m not trying to be cocky or nothing, but his class – my brother’s class – they was nice. They was real nice. No disrespect to Alabama right now, but them boys was always 1, 2. It was no questions. Right now, with the rankings, I guess you could say – I ain’t even gonna say that.

“But at the same time, I know what Nick Saban wants, and we’re gonna mess that up. If them boys don’t got no momentum, for real, we’re gonna have to take that away, immediately, for sure.”

A day later, one of Alabama’s defensive backs who will face the Texas A&M wide receivers was asked about Smith’s comments. Redshirt sophomore Terrion Arnold shared his reaction.

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

Arnold is in his third season in the program and has been in the starting lineup for all five games this year. Through the first five weeks, Arnold is fourth nationally in forced incompletions (6) while allowing just 11 receptions across 24 targets for a 45.8 completion percentage, according to Pro Football Focus. His 45.3 passer rating on targets is also 11th in the country.

The ESPN broadcast for Saturday’s Alabama-Mississippi State game said Arnold talks to wide receivers throughout the game. The third-year cornerback said that’s something he’s done since he was younger, and it is mostly conversational. That will be the case when facing the Aggies’ leading receiver, Evan Stewart, at Kyle Field on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT on CBS).

But what is Arnold’s mindset when it comes to trash talk?

“If you had another reporter and you felt like he was asking you certain types of questions or trying to get a reaction out of somebody else and he was coming at you, like how would you take that?” Arnold said. “So if I’m in the game and he’s saying that he knows what my coach wants, obviously, when I go out there, I’m going to be like, ‘You know what Coach Saban wants, huh? What he want?’ Just little things like that.

“He plays in the slot primarily. If Malachi (Moore) goes out there and gets a PBU on him, you walk beside him like, ‘Hm, you know what he wants.’ So just little things like that, little things trying to get in somebody’s head.

“Obviously, you see what type of competitor somebody is. If they shut down then you know they can’t play 60 minutes of football and that’s the type of person they are. But if they keep going, it really gets you going and it makes the game entertaining for the crowd, makes it entertaining for you and you have a chance to really go out there and put on a show.”

Smith and Stewert are A&M’s top two receivers and will be a challenge for Arnold and the rest of the Crimson Tide secondary, but it is a challenge that Alabama is excited to meet Saturday.

“Their whole receiving corps is an explosive receiving corps,” Arnold said. “Obviously, they have a great offensive coordinator, a great coach in Jimbo Fisher. They really dial it up. When you go against guys like that, you really have to be patient because they have, at any moment in time, the ability to take the top off.

“So when you go against guys like that, it really gets you excited, and it’s another test for our defense and our secondary to show why we’re one of the best in the country.”

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