One of the biggest games of the college football season is slowly approaching. Just a few days remain before the highly publicized rematch between Texas A&M and Alabama. Last season, A&M came out of nowhere to beat the Crimson Tide on their own field. This year the Tide look to do the exact same as they head to College Station. As both teams prep throughout the week, one word the Alabama is not uttering is "revenge."
Nick Saban is making sure the team is going about business as usual this week. He is not allowing them to get caught up in the hype surrounding the big game, instead stressing a strong mental approach. Wide receiver Amari Cooper remembers all too well the beats the Aggies placed on the Tide last season. As they once again sit ranked No. 1, Cooper is not thinking about getting revenge this year.
"Yeah, it's the only game we lost last year," Cooper said, via ESPN.com. "To me, it's not a revenge thing because if we wanted to get revenge, we'd have to play that same team last year with the same team we had last year. It's really not a revenge thing. If you lose a fight with someone, you don't get revenge from fighting someone else."
Last season, quarterback Johnny Manziel put on his Heisman winning performance in Tuscaloosa. With so much heat surrounding the quarterback, emotions are expected to be high on Saturday afternoon. Saban is aware that players might get chippy with one another, but notes that trash talking will not be a part of the Tide's game plan.
"We tell our players, there's no circumstance where you need to talk to another player, and there's been very little of that with our team," Saban said. "Business-like is the way we'd like to approach this game. It's going to be emotional, don't get me wrong. And I'm not trying to minimize the importance when I use the term 'businesslike.'"
One storyline highlighting the rematch is the friendship between Manziel and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron. Both were involved in the famous Manning Passing Academy incident where Manziel was released from camp after showing up late. He claimed to have overslept. McCarron was his roommate. McCarron is not thinking about Manziel leading up to the big game, instead focusing on what he can do to help win the game.
"We're just friends, guys," McCarron said. "Y'all make this thing a lot bigger than it needs to be. I've never been one to be in the spotlight. Everybody lives their lifestyle different. People criticize him for being himself. Everybody's got their opinion on something. That's what y'all get paid for, opinions."
Saban is 15-2 in avenging losses. Alabama will be coming off a bye week after defeating Virginia Tech in their season opener. Last year the team was plagued by a slow start, something Saban and McCarron vow to not make an issue this time around.
