With the Crimson Tide’s 24-3 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners Saturday, Alabama said goodbye to any chance at making the SEC championship as the pressure proved too much for quarterback Jalen Milroe.
Alabama is now 4-3 in the SEC with losses to two unranked teams.
“[I’m] extremely disappointed and frustrated,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We worked, I thought, extremely hard all week putting a plan together.”
Milroe struggled to build forward momentum early, forcing the Crimson Tide to attempt a 22-yard field goal, which kicker Graham Nicholson made to bring the game to 3-0.
These were the only points Alabama put on the board this game.
The pressure proved too much for Milroe throughout the game, as the Sooner defense forced him to throw the ball when his ability to run the ball had been his strength all season. Against LSU, the quarterback rushed for 185 yards and four touchdowns, whereas against Oklahoma, he only rushed for 7 yards and no touchdowns.
While many of Alabama’s struggles were due to Milroe’s inability to connect with his players and not being able to use his legs, the offensive line was often left exposed without enough time in the pocket for Milroe to make good decisions about where to throw the ball.
Oklahoma scored its first points on a field goal and a touchdown after an 18-yard run by Xavier Robinson, which gave the team the lead it maintained throughout the game.
On the next two of Alabama’s possessions, Milroe was intercepted by Eli Bowen, who returned 25 yards, and Kip Lewis, who returned for a touchdown. Between these drives, the Sooners also scored a touchdown on their possession to bring the score to 24-3 in the third quarter.
“The turnovers really changed the momentum of the game,” DeBoer said. “Turnovers were gonna be key, and we said that coming in. We knew taking the ball off of them early was going to be big, and in the end, it flipped the other way, and we turned the ball over.”
Alabama nearly brought in a touchdown in the fourth quarter from wide receiver Ryan Williams, who made it to the Oklahoma end zone but was called back on an illegal touching penalty.
Milroe went 11/26 in passes for a 42.3% completion rate and was plagued by a career-high three interceptions. With less than 7 minutes left in the game, Milroe was intercepted for the third and final time by Woodi Washington. With possession back in the hands of the Sooners, the Crimson Tide couldn’t find any late-game hope as the minutes ticked away, and the game eventually ended with a 24-3 final score.
With this win, Oklahoma became bowl-eligible, which excited fans enough to rush the field with 28 seconds left on the game clock, knocking down the goalposts. Once the field was cleared, the Sooners took a knee to end the game officially, prompting fans to storm the field again.
The Crimson Tide will return to Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium for its final regular season game against the Auburn Tigers on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ABC.
