No. 7 Alabama’s hopes for an SEC title are over and an appearance in the College Football Playoff seems very, very unlikely after a 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.
The Crimson Tide was a 14-point favorite, but Oklahoma took control of the game with a pair of interceptions in the third quarter and its pass rush collapsed the pocket on QB Jalen Milroe all night.
The Sooners scored late in the second quarter to take a 10-3 lead into halftime. On Alabama’s third play of the second half, freshman cornerback Eli Bowen had his first career interception when he jumped a short screen to fellow freshman Ryan Williams and returned the ball to the Alabama 14-yard line.
Oklahoma went up 14 five plays later when Xavier Robinson got his second rushing TD of the night.
Alabama’s next possession lasted five more plays but had the same result. Milroe was picked off by Kip Lewis and Lewis returned the ball 49 yards for a pick-6.
Any hope Alabama had of a comeback vanished in the fourth quarter during a bizarre — and likely incorrect — series of plays. Williams appeared to make a phenomenal fourth-down TD catch to cut Oklahoma’s lead to two scores. But long after the game started, a flag was thrown. The call ultimately involved illegal touching, as officials said Williams was illegally concealed during the scrimmage.
However, replays showed Williams was the only receiver on his side of the field standing at the line of scrimmage. With a tight end also on that side of the formation, Alabama had seven players in a row on the ball, while the two receivers on Williams’ wing each lined up behind the line.
To be clear, the call is not the reason Alabama lost. Three turnovers and the inability to run the ball are much bigger factors.
Oklahoma has done a fantastic job keeping Milroe in check. His longest run of the game was only 11 yards. He was also ineffective as a passer, finishing just 11 of 26 for 164 yards. The three points Alabama scored are the fewest a Crimson Tide team has scored since 2004.
The Sooners, meanwhile, become bowl eligible with a sixth win and keep alive a bowl streak that dates back to 1998.
How many teams will the SEC get into the playoff?
Missing the playoffs will go down as a major failure for Alabama in coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season as Nick Saban’s replacement. And it’s hard to imagine Alabama heading into the playoffs barring even more chaos during the final week of the regular season.
Alabama is now 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the SEC. The Crimson Tide are out of SEC title contention with four teams ahead of them in the standings.
And those four teams – Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia and Tennessee – all have a much clearer path to the College Football Playoff, especially if the Aggies beat the Longhorns and make it to the SEC title game. The SEC entered Week 13 with six teams vying to make the postseason. Now that group is only four.
Alabama has to hope that Georgia loses to Georgia Tech or that Tennessee falls to Vanderbilt in Week 14, while Texas beats Texas A&M. That would leave one one-loss team in the SEC and no more than two two-loss teams. And that might not be enough to keep Alabama in playoff contention, aside from what happens in the ACC.
Under Saban, Alabama made the playoffs eight times with four teams in 10 seasons. In the first year of the 12-team playoff, the Crimson Tide appears poised to miss.
