NEW ORLEANS—It was not the end to the BCS era that Alabama wanted. The two-time defending national champion Crimson Tide was stunned in the Allstate Sugar Bowl by a 45-31 loss to Oklahoma.
If Alabama thought it could breeze over the University of Oklahoma, it was sorely mistaken.
The Sooners took control of the game after a back-and-forth first quarter. By the half, Oklahoma led 31-17. The Crimson Tide never recovered in the 14-point loss.
“As a team we didn’t play well enough to win, and Oklahoma really outplayed us,” coach Nick Saban said. “And I really can’t blame it on the lack of focus. I just don’t think that our players realized sometimes that they won so much that they realize sometimes what it really takes to win every game and that you can never take anything for granted, and that everyone that plays us has something to prove.”
Alabama outgained Oklahoma, putting up 516 net yards to the Sooners’ 429.
“I actually thought that the players responded in practice pretty well for this game,” Saban said. “And we put over 500 yards of offense up. Somebody had to do something right.”
Junior wide receiver DeAndrew White had 139 receiving yards and a touchdown. He eclipsed the 100-yard mark on his third catch of the game.
Sophomore running back T.J. Yeldon started off the scoring for Alabama with a 1-yard touchdown run. On the night, he rushed for 72 yards on 17 carries and racked up 23 yards on two receptions.
Freshman running back Derrick Henry saw carries behind Yeldon and accounted for Alabama’s other two touchdowns. He scored on a 43-yard run in the third quarter to put Alabama within seven of Oklahoma. In the fourth quarter, senior quarterback AJ McCarron connected with him on a 61-yard touchdown pass. Henry rushed for 100 yards on eight carries.
“Actually, we decided that he was our second best back going into this game, and we were going to give him an opportunity based on his performance in practice and what he had done and the confidence that he had gained throughout the course of the season in terms of knowing what to do and playing fast,” Saban said. “And certainly had an outstanding game tonight and did a really good job for us, and I think he has a bright future.”
Alabama’s four turnovers ultimately doomed the Crimson Tide. McCarron threw two picks in the first half, and Oklahoma turned both interceptions into scoring drives.
“Put it all on me,” McCarron said. “I had two turnovers, ended up scoring 14 points, and we lost by 14. So, you know, it’s football. It happens. I wish it wouldn’t have happened, but I’ll definitely take the loss and definitely take the blame, because a lot of it is probably my fault.”
McCarron threw a career best 387 yards against Oklahoma. On the season, he threw for 3,063 yards, surpassing Greg McElroy’s single season record of 2,987 yards.
“We all win and lose together,” senior wide receiver Kevin Norwood said. “AJ can’t put it all on himself. I can’t let him do that. There’s times I could have batted the ball down. There’s a time where I could have saved the block from when [Christion Jones] was going on the punt return. It’s not all on AJ. It’s all on us, and we didn’t come out and play like we should.”
When the defense stepped on the field, it could do little to stop the Sooners who moved at will. Alabama’s defense had allowed only 11.3 points per game all season. It allowed 14 in the first quarter alone.
Jeoffrey Pagan recorded the only sack on Oklahoma quarterback and Sugar Bowl MVP Trevor Knight. The Sooners sacked McCarron seven times and forced four turnovers.
“I don’t think that we played as well on defense as we’re capable of or should have or – you know, we really had a lot of guys that were hurt in the secondary that couldn’t practice all the time, and I think those are some of the areas that showed up, you know, not so good tonight in terms of some of the big plays that they made and some of the third downs that we didn’t make,” Saban said.
