NORMAN, Okla. — No. 7 Alabama (8-3) saw its College Football Playoff and SEC title hopes take a big hit in a 24-3 loss to Oklahoma (6-5) at OU Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Crimson Tide are 1-3 on the road against SEC opponents while the Sooners secured their first Power 4 win since Sept. 28 against Auburn.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe completed just two passes in the first half before finishing 11-for-26 for 164 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions, a season-high. The Crimson Tide’s first two drives of the third quarter resulted in Milroe interceptions, the second of which was returned 49 yards for a touchdown by Oklahoma’s Kip Lewis.
Oklahoma out-gained Alabama 325 yards to 234, driven largely by the Sooners’ 257 rushing yards.
“We finally did the things that winning requires,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables told ESPN after the game. “All three phases, they complemented each other. They punched first and punched back. Tonight, we finally punched last.”
This was the lowest-scoring output for the Crimson Tide since a 20-3 loss to South Carolina in 2004. Alabama hasn’t lost to an unranked team by 21-plus points since the 1998 Music City Bowl against Virginia Tech (38-7).
The Athletic’s analysis:
What does this mean for Alabama’s postseason?
The Tide no longer control their own destiny. They had the inside path to the CFP as the second-highest-ranked SEC team, with a 5-5 Oklahoma team and 4-6 Auburn team left on the schedule. Now it’s all been blown up.
CFP-wise, the Tide will likely now fall behind Georgia, which won today and has just two losses, as well as Tennessee, which has a win over Alabama. Losses by Indiana, Ole Miss, BYU and Colorado on Saturday should help the Tide from falling too far back and keep them in the at-large mix. Texas A&M is on the ropes, too. But getting a first-round home game might be off the table barring more chaos next week. The big winner from Saturday’s madness could be the ACC’s hopes of getting two bids.
Alabama’s SEC championship hopes appear gone with three conference losses. There remains a long list of possible matchups in the game, but it’s hard to see a path for the Tide.
What does this mean for Oklahoma?
It’s been a rough season for the Sooners, who hadn’t won a game against an FBS opponent since September, but getting to bowl eligibility and a marquee win on Senior Night has to feel good. For as bad as the year has gone, through all the quarterback problems and offensive issues, the defense kept playing hard and kept the Sooners in games. Two interceptions led directly to 14 points, including a pick-six to go up three scores.
Oklahoma’s 257 rushing yards were the most allowed by Alabama this year. Quarterback Jackson Arnold didn’t do much in the passing game (68 yards total), but he didn’t have to. The offensive coordinator search remains ongoing, and the Sooners can’t have another season like this, but it’s something to feel good about as Venables heads into an offseason needing to fix the program.
An all-too-familiar fate for Alabama on the road this season
Vanderbilt. Tennessee. Now Oklahoma. Alabama’s three road losses have a common thread — costly turnovers, the latest misfortunes came in a game that might have eliminated the Tide from the Playoff.
Three second-half interceptions by Milroe arrived at critical times. Milroe’s 11-for-26 passing stat line with three turnovers mark his worst performance of the season. It was one part of an all-around, flat offensive performance — 234 yards, just 70 on the ground, and only 4.1 yards per play.
Oklahoma’s top-ranked rushing defense was keyed in on Milroe-designed runs from the start, allowing three rushing yards on his first eight carries. Milroe finished with just seven rushing yards on 15 attempts while Jam Miller and Justice Haynes combined for 15 carries total. Without that element, Alabama’s offense couldn’t establish any momentum. It didn’t hurt that there were a myriad of mental errors that cost the offense positive plays from drops, missed assignments and penalties.
Defensively, Saturday’s loss felt similar to Alabama’s first road loss at Vanderbilt — out-played at the line of scrimmage and out-game planned against a sound rushing attack. Despite an 83rd national rank in rush offense, Oklahoma gained over 250 yards on the ground, 128 of them by quarterback Jackson Arnold, who only passed for 68 yards.
It was a summation of Alabama’s season to date — dominant at times, appearing capable of playing with anyone, and other times disjointed where errors compile on each other which creates sometimes insurmountable deficits. There’s no other way to look at Saturday’s game as a collapse in a crucial spot, but not a moment that’s been unfamiliar this season-highs followed by lows.
How did Oklahoma win the game? Turning its season on its head
Oklahoma’s season has been marred by misfortune, but Saturday night had all of the elements for a top-10 upset. The Sooners were off by a bye, hosting Alabama on Senior Night with bowl eligibility on the line. On the field, Oklahoma turned its weaknesses into strengths.
Oklahoma entered Saturday night having given up the most sacks (41) and fourth-most tackles for loss (80) in the country. Saturday? Zero sacks allowed and four tackles for loss allowed.
Oklahoma entered Saturday with the 86th-ranked rushing offense in the country (143 yards per game). Saturday? 70 rushing yards on 2.3 yards per carry.
Oklahoma entered Saturday ranked 73rd in turnover margin (minus-1) and 107th in turnovers lost (18). Saturday? Oklahoma won the turnover battle by a plus-1 margin and scored 14 points off turnovers.
Oklahoma entered Saturday ranked 105th nationally in time of possession (28 minutes). Saturday? Behind its dominant run game, the Sooners converted 7-of-15 third-down tries and held the ball for over 35 minutes.
In a day of home underdogs pulling off upsets, Venables delivered a signature win and a subsequent fieldstorming, Oklahoma’s first since 2000.
The play that defined the 4th quarter
For a brief moment, it appeared Alabama regained momentum to start a comeback. On a fourth-and-2, down 24-3 with 14:13 to play, Milroe rolled out and found Ryan Williams about 40 yards downfield for a highlight-level touchdown with Williams getting one foot down in the corner of the end zone. However, the officiating crew threw a flag for illegal touching on Williams, wiping away the score.
Alabama thought they scored on this fourth down play from Ryan Williams but the play was overturned due to illegal touching. pic.twitter.com/25U0QuLjQH
— ESPN (@espn) November 24, 2024
It was a puzzling call in the moment and on replay, as Williams didn’t appear to be out of order pre-snap or during the play, but after the initial call and a referee meeting, the call stood and Oklahoma took over on downs. Alabama never reached Oklahoma territory again.
(Photo: David Stacy / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
