‘It is something we take personal’ – Alabama starter makes strong statement about matchup against the Tennessee Vols
An Alabama Crimson Tide starter says the game against the Tennessee Vols this weekend is “personal”
The Alabama Crimson Tide are looking for some revenge this weekend against the Tennessee Vols.
Tennessee beat Alabama 24-17 last season in Knoxville.
Crimson Tide redshirt senior tight end Josh Cuevas said on Hey Coach & The Kalen DeBoer Show on Wednesday evening that beating Tennessee is something that Alabama has been “chasing since last season”.
Cuevas also said the game against Tennessee this weekend is “personal”.
“It fires us up, absolutely,” said Cuevas of facing the Volunteers. “I mean, it’s something that we’ve been chasing since last season. And I can even give you an example. So the tight end room, we have a football goal sheet, and we have a personal goal sheet that we do before every week to try and meet those goals.
“Most of the guys wrote down on their personal goals was to beat Tennessee — because it is personal. It is something we take personal. I mean, winning isn’t easy in the SEC, so it just makes it even more rewarding when you see the entire week of preparation paying off.”
Cuevas never played for Nick Saban at Alabama (he transferred from Washington to Alabama after Saban retired), but he is certainly utilizing some of Saban’s most famous advice — make every game personal.
Alabama QB Ty Simpson says the game against Tennessee is not personal
While Cuevas (and apparently mostly of the Crimson Tide’s tight end room) says the game against Tennessee is personal, Alabama starting quarterback Ty Simpson had a different take this week.
Simpson told reporters last Saturday after Alabama’s win over Missouri that the game against the Vols is not personal for him.
“Of course, growing up, I knew about Tennessee and the Big Orange,” said Simpson. “But I don’t want to say it’s personal by any means. It’s just another game. I’m not going to make it bigger than it is. Obviously, a really good team coming in here [with] a really good defense, and a really good offense. We know what happened last year, but it’s just like Vanderbilt week. We’re not going to make it about last year; it’s going to be about this year.”
Simpson, who grew up in Martin, TN, was recruited heavily by the Vols.
Josh Heupel, however, had just taken over as Tennessee’s head coach a month before Simpson announced his commitment. With the Vols facing an uncertain future at the time (a new head coach plus an NCAA investigation thanks to previous head coach Jermey Pruitt), it was an easy decision for Simpson to pick Alabama over Tennessee.
Simpson may not be making this game personal, but there will be plenty of players on both sides of the field who will be on Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
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