NORMAN, Okla.— Ryan Williams fell to his knees in disbelief. Jalen Milroe walked towards the sideline speechless. Kalen DeBoer gave an earful and more. The aftermath of a play that didn’t decide the game against Oklahoma, but was a polarizing moment, was emblematic of the night for Alabama. In a matter of seconds, a miraculous touchdown reception on fourth down that would’ve cut the deficit to 24-10 was called back and Alabama’s offense was left without points for the seventh straight possession.
Milroe was still searching for answers after the game.
“Did not get a confirmation on that,” Milroe said. “But we shouldn’t put ourselves in that close position for officials to make calls. We have to take ownership of starting off faster and taking advantage of every opportunity.”
The official call, an illegal touching that determined Williams was off the line of scrimmage making him ineligible, was one of a long list of woes for Alabama’s offense in a stunning 24-3 loss to the Sooners, the Tide’s third this season. An offense that entered Saturday ranked seventh nationally in scoring was held to its lowest point total since October 2004. A unit averaging 438 yards per game was held to a season-low 234 yards. A three-game turnover-free streak was broken in the worst way possible — three second-half interceptions, two leading to touchdowns and the third resulting in Oklahoma running out the remaining 6 minutes, 34 seconds.
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
A performance like that, in a loss to a 5-5 team as double-digit favorites, is hard to swallow. But it’s even more bitter considering the timing. Chaos ensued around Alabama leading up to Saturday’s kickoff, all working in its favor. No. 5 Indiana suffered a 23-point loss to Ohio State, No. 9 Ole Miss fell to Florida which helped clear the SEC deck while Missouri beat Mississippi State, which meant the only thing left for Alabama to do to make the SEC championship was win its next two games. With everything squarely ahead, Alabama’s offense collapsed.
“We just didn’t execute,” offensive lineman Tyler Booker said. “You got to execute better. You got to execute better. The plays were there to be made, we just didn’t execute.”
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At the center of Alabama’s offensive woes was the worst game of Milroe’s season, arguably the worst of his career with 11-of-26 passing for 164 yards and three interceptions. The Oklahoma defense, off a bye week, had a master game plan for containing Milroe’s running ability. Alabama’s offense made a concerted effort to give Milroe running touches with seven attempts in the first quarter alone, but there was little room.
Oklahoma held Milroe to just seven yards on 15 carries and Alabama’s offense managed just 70 rushing yards for the game. Milroe had as many carries as running backs Jam Miller and Justice Haynes combined.
“They have a lot of guys that are physical and play strong up front,” Milroe said. “And then of course when you play Alabama, you’re gonna give your best, especially here at home. So it’s all about just attacking, having the 1-0 mentality, regrouping and just acknowledging what we have to do to fix it.”
There was never a doubt in DeBoer’s mind about sitting Milroe amid the struggles. In DeBoer’s estimation, his quarterback’s mistakes were one part of a holistic failure on offense.
“Stepping back I just felt like early in the game there were different things,” DeBoer said. “I mean drops, just flat-out dropped balls. We lost (the ball) in the lights, just different uncharacteristic things, weird things that happened. And I thought he was actually putting the ball where he needed to, we just needed to help him out a little bit.
“But there was still a lot of game left and I felt like a lot of things he was doing, he was fighting and battling and doing a lot of things well for our football team, and we just all needed to be a little better.”
There were several notable drops in the first half by tight end CJ Dippre and Ryan Williams that would’ve extended drives. Alabama’s offensive operation seemed out of sorts, most times still trying to get lined up and snapped by the game clock. But still, the game was within reach at 10-3 at halftime. Spearheaded by Milroe’s turnovers, Alabama’s second-half drive chart went as follows: interception, pick-six, punt, turnover on downs, interception.
Milroe’s first interception looked like a wide receiver error. There seemed to be a lackadaisical effort which allowed for the Oklahoma defender to catch the pass unaffected.
“Screen pass, they jump it,” DeBoer said. “You have to assume that those blocks are going to happen and you’re reading a different defender.”
Kip doesn’t like teams from Alabama…@KipLewis9 | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/jCLU5BjI6G
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 24, 2024
The costly, back-breaking pick-six is squarely on Milroe, who either never saw the defender or pre-determined the throw. Either way, it was a crucial error at the worst time.
“If I threw it sooner we would’ve completed the ball,” Milroe said. “It’s a pass you got to complete, so I take full ownership of that.”
Kip doesn’t like teams from Alabama…@KipLewis9 | #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/jCLU5BjI6G
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 24, 2024
His third interception was no fault of his own but another microcosm of the game. Oklahoma sent pressure that got home, Milroe was hit as he threw and the ball popped up for the taking. The Sooner defensive line kept Milroe under duress throughout the game, something Alabama couldn’t do on the other end.
Blitz Boomer Blitz‼️ pic.twitter.com/LIK1SjQMWv
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) November 24, 2024
“Some of the momentum things early in the game kind of took the wind out of our sails a little bit,” DeBoer said. “It put them on the field. They kind of start churning the yards on the ground, winning the time of possession there. And we couldn’t get over the hump tonight. That’s the unfortunate thing.”
As unfortunate as it is, that’s been Alabama’s reality this season. Before Saturday, Alabama outscored its last three opponents by a 128-20 margin, then only managed a field goal in a must-win game. The highs have been to the moon, the lows at rock bottom. Ultimately the inconsistencies of this team, highlighted by the offense on Saturday, will likely keep the Tide out of the College Football Playoff.
Perhaps another chaotic Saturday is ahead that could rescue Alabama’s chances, but for now, the only thing that’s guaranteed is the Iron Bowl against Auburn, which upset No. 15 Texas A&M in four overtimes and will play for bowl eligibility next week. Meanwhile, Alabama’s goals nearly evaporated, and to see the Crimson Tide fade away behind an anemic offensive performance was unexpected.
Still, DeBoer maintained postgame that the team is hurt but unbroken. If he’s wrong, another dangerous opponent could deliver a similar fate next week.
“There is a big game next week,” DeBoer said. “So we got to regroup, stick together. The right things are said in there by the guys, as much as they’re hurting. And just keep playing and have pride in who we are and finish the job.”
(Photo: William Purnell / Imagn Images)
