Postgame Thoughts: Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3
The Oklahoma Sooners scored their biggest upset in more than a decade in dominant fashion with a 24-3 win Saturday over the No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide. It represents OU’s most surprising win since the 2013 Sugar Bowl… also against Alabama.
Here are some knee-jerk reactions based on a live viewing of the game.
*You want to talk about a huge win coming at the best possible moment for a coach and a program?
The Tide entered this matchup favored by 14 points, which many OU fans would have told you wasn’t enough. While the Sooners have played abysmal football for most of the 2024 season, Bama appeared to be hitting its stride with the postseason in sight. It sounded like the kind of situation in which the Tide raced out to a big lead and cruised to an easy win. Instead, OU thoroughly outplayed Bama for four quarters. Considering the Sooners left a lot of money on the table in the first half, the final score could have been even worse.
The stunner guarantees a bowl bid for OU in a season in which hopes of a postseason were flickering – and this team needs the extra practice time. More importantly, it eased some of the tension around Brent Venables and his tenure as head coach. On a related note, it came on a mammoth recruiting weekend for the Sooners – obviously, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh is hoping a certain committed recruit who was elsewhere this weekend was watching.
*Among a litany of surprising things about this performance, the fact the Sooners didn’t pack it in after squandering some choice opportunities to go up big early probably surprised me the most. During the first half, I received multiple texts along the lines of “I just can’t watch this anymore” when OU came up empty twice in a row on possessions that ended deep in Alabama territory.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame anyone who tuned out after kicker Zach Schmidt badly hooked a short field early in the game - the events to that point felt way too familiar.
*As for how the Sooners won, it really starts with the defense. Specifically, OU owes the win in large measure to a huge showing by the defensive line.
Led by edge rusher R Mason Thomas, the OU DL battered Crimson Tide QB Jalen Milroe the entire game. Bama’s Heisman Trophy candidate had few opportunities to improvise or break containment. The scorekeepers credited the Sooners with just one sack, but the DL kept Milroe under duress throughout the entire contest.
OU’s ability to control the line of scrimmage on defense also went a long way to limiting the Tide to a measly 70 yards on 30 rushing attempts. A telling stat: Milroe had a long run of 11 yards in the game, and he gained a total of one yard on his other 13 carries.
*Rarely does a freshman live up to the offseason buzz the way cornerback Eli Bowen has this season. Bowen drew the unenviable task of guarding arguably the best wide receiver in the nation in Ryan Williams. Williams’ final line: two receptions for 37 yards. Even on Williams’ spectacular catch in the end zone that was disallowed, Bowen couldn’t have defended the play much better.
Moreover, Bowen’s interception of a screen pass in the second half started the avalanche for the Sooners, and he gave it his all in run defense. A stellar game from top to bottom.
*The second-biggest surprise of the evening was watching OU’s offensive line whip Bama’s talented defensive front. Quarterback Jackson Arnold did some damage on scrambles, but running for a net of 260 yards on 49 attempts only happens when you make a point of pounding the opposing D into submission. The left side of the offensive line with Heath Ozaeta at guard and Logan Howland at tackle looked especially sturdy over the course of the game.
Howland’s development could ease some pressure in the offseason to make a huge splash with transfer acquisitions along the OL. (By that, I mean OU might need just one OT, not two.)
*Interim offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley drew up a stellar plan of attack for this particular test during the two-week break. My buddy Carter Bryant was singing his praises in his weekly film review session.
We should keep in mind that kind of offense has a limited shelf life, though. It made sense to install it for the final two games of the season, especially knowing how poorly the next opponent, LSU, has played the run this season. But running your quarterback 24 times in a game against an SEC-caliber defense usually won’t fly if you have to do it every week. Neither will a game plan that so rarely calls for throwing the ball downfield.
*Arnold definitely looked more comfortable in this game than he has at any other point this season. The run-first scheme probably factored into that, but even his decisions in the option game seemed to improve.
*Xavier Robinson’s ascendancy to the top of the depth chart at running back took just two games. His combination of power and vision fueled 18 rushing attempts that produced 107 yards and two touchdowns. It seemed as though he was routinely adding an extra two yards or so at the end of every carry – he just has more pop in how he runs relative to the other backs on the roster.