According to Nick Saban, Alabama will be down a receiver when it welcomes Tennessee to Tuscaloosa this weekend.

The team’s outstanding junior receiver DeVonta Smith will remain on the sidelines for the first half Saturday night as the Crimson Tide take on the Volunteers after he was ejected late against Texas A&M last weekend.

Smith was involved in a back-and-forth exchange with Texas A&M defensive back Leon O’Neal but it was the Alabama receiver that was ejected from the game.

Following the conclusion of that game, Nick Saban weighed in on what he saw on the play.

“Basically, he got hit — punched and he retaliated,” Saban said on Saturday. “We’ll have to wait for the conference office to see what his status is. It was offsetting fouls. Obviously their player shouldn’t have punched him but he should have had the discipline not to hit him back because that’s a foul. We would have got a 15-yard penalty and that would have basically ended the game.”

After reviewing the film, Saban announced Smith will miss the first half against Tennessee, claiming it was his decision and not a decision that was handed down by the SEC.

“When you make bad decisions it leads to consequences,” the Alabama coach said on Monday.

If you missed the sequence from the Texas A&M game, you can check it out below:

https://twitter.com/SouthernbeLLSU/status/1183157046851657731?s=20