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'We Hate Losing!' Max Wright And Texas A&M Aggies Veterans Trying To Steer Program In Right Direction

Max Wright and the Texas A&M Aggies are trying to lay a foundation for success and get back on track vs. the South Carolina Gamecocks

Matt Galatzan

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This season may not be going the way they envisioned it, but the Texas A&M Aggies are trying to set a new standard in College Station. 

Particularly, veteran players such as Max Wright, Ainias Smith, Layden Robinson and Faidal Diggs want to leave the program better than they found it. 

Of course, losing big games does not help in that goal, but if they can bounce back this week against the South Carolina Gamecocks, and close the season strong, it could go a long way. 

”Some of the older dudes like me, Ainias, Layden, Fadil, all these guys are looking at the younger dudes saying this is setting the foundation for the next few years to come,” Wright said. “We hate losing. I would hope that everyone knows that we really hate losing. Every single guy on the team feels that way."

Ahead of their now critical matchup at home against the Gamecocks, the Aggies will be coming out of a much-needed bye week. 

Oct 14, 2023; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee running back Jaylen Wright (0) is tackled by multiple Texas A&M players during a football game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023 / Saul Young-USA TODAY Sports

During the bye, the Aggies not only used that time to get players healthy but also to reset their mindset ahead of the game. 

In other words, they want to avoid a repeat of last season, when the Aggies started the season 3-1, before losing six of their last eight games and missing bowl eligibility. 

"This bye week guys were fired up trying to get each other better," Wright said. "Defense getting into our stuff. We’re getting into their stuff. There’s a bit more of a sense of ‘hey this year is not going to be what happened last season. We know that we can win out and go 9-3 and then go to a bowl game and finish out with 10 games on the year.”

Beating the 2-5 Gamecocks will be pivotal to accomplishing that task, and getting back on track. 

Kickoff between South Carolina and Texas A&M is set for 11 a.m. 

Published
Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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