Everything was lining up perfectly for Alabama football.
A spot in the SEC Championship Game. A place in the College Football Playoff. Another dominant November in coach Kalen DeBoer’s career. All of it looked not only possible but also likely.
All the Crimson Tide needed to do? Take care of its business and win out against two unranked opponents. Easy enough.
Or so it seemed.
Alabama strung together a bunch of shenanigans on offense and defense during a trip to Norman and paid the price. Oklahoma upset Alabama 24-3, handing the Crimson Tide (8-3, 4-3 SEC) a third loss that could all but knock it out of playoff contention. It marks the first season Alabama has lost three games since 2010.
Here are takeaways from the game between No. 7 Alabama and Oklahoma on Saturday at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.
What the Sooners did on the ground in the first half would have prompted former coach Nick Saban to reference a tin horn.
Alabama could not stop the Sooners on the ground when the game was still close. Could not stop them.
Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold led the way. He gashed the Crimson Tide defense on the ground almost right away in the first half, running 15 times for 95 yards before halftime, an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Arnold ended up rushing for more than 100 yards on the day. Running back Xavier Robinson also shined, scampering for 88 yards on eight carries, with one run going for 40 yards before the break. Robinson ended up running for two touchdowns in the game.
Oklahoma had 205 rushing yards, at halftime.
To the Crimson Tide’s credit, it only gave up 10 points despite all those rushing yards. It also forced a fumble on one third down inside the red zone. But the overall inability to stop the Oklahoma offense from moving the ball, primarily on the ground, kept Alabama from gaining any momentum as its offense sputtered.
Oklahoma finished the game with 257 rushing yards on 50 carries and two touchdowns.
The Sooners saw what Alabama’s quarterback did to LSU’s defense earlier in November, and Oklahoma did all it could to prevent a repeat performance.
Alabama looked intent on using Milroe’s legs, but the Sooners made them a nonfactor. Before halftime, Milroe rushed nine times and tallied -2 yards.
He didn’t fare all that much better in the second half either. Milroe finished the game with 15 attempts for seven yards.
It was a much different result than the last road game when Milroe ran all over the LSU defense. He had four rushing touchdowns that day.
Then he had a performance that was a far cry from that in Norman.
The Crimson Tide didn’t have much success passing either. Whether it be because of Milroe missing a receiver or a receiver not securing a pass, Alabama couldn’t get much anything going through the air for much of the game on a consistent basis.
The passing game reached a low point early in the second half. Milroe threw an interception on the first drive, when Alabama only trailed by a touchdown. Then Oklahoma scored on offense to extend the lead to two touchdowns, and the Crimson Tide got the ball back.
Then Milroe threw another interception. This time, the Sooners returned it for a touchdown. That gave Oklahoma a 24-3 lead midway through the third quarter.
Milroe also threw a third interception as he was taken to the ground on fourth down late in the game.
Milroe looked to have connected with Ryan Williams on a fourth-down touchdown pass that was made for highlight reels, but officials threw a flagged and called it back for illegal touching.
The penalty nullified the impressive touchdown. But even if it had counted, the completion would have been an outlier in an otherwise dismal day for the passing game and the offense.
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
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