Did Alabama football lose to Oklahoma? Crimson Tide postgame report card

NORMAN, Okla. — Alabama football arrived in Norman, Oklahoma with SEC Championship and College Football Playoff hopes to find them completely wiped out by American football. Soon.

Oklahoma wins over No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide 24-3 Saturday night at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and handed Alabama its third loss of the 2024 season.

With the loss to the Sooners, Alabama had a three-loss season for the first time since 2010.

Here are the Crimson Tide’s postgame notes after their 21-point loss to the Sooners:

Alabama football offense: F

Alabama wasn’t at Tennessee on Saturday night, but Jalen Milroe’s approach to running the Crimson Tide offense was eerily reminiscent of his performance against the Volunteers and Vanderbilt: running an inconsistent, inefficient offense where he tried to shoulder the entire load.

And the Sooners’ defense was not fooled, holding the Crimson Tide to 97 yards in the first half.

Milroe, who opened the second half with a screen pass interception that set up the Sooners’ touchdown, completely collapsed after Oklahoma received another interception on a 49-yard pick-six on the ensuing Alabama drive. Trailing 24-3, with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, he made his third pick of the evening after being hit on the throw. It was a terrible second half performance for the Alabama quarterback and a terrible performance for the offense as a whole.

Alabama defense: D-

Signs of the Alabama defense of late showed up early with a forced fumble by Bray Hubbard that was recovered by Deontae Lawson.

But instead of gaining momentum from turnovers, the Crimson Tide appear to have reverted to the “bend but don’t break” defense of old; this was a defense that failed to gain the upper hand and allowed quarterback Jackson Arnold to evade and evade pressure. There is an open area in front of it.

And with Lawson out for the rest of the game with a lower extremity injury, Alabama was unable to stop the Sooner run game, which hurt the Crimson Tide just as Vanderbilt did with Alabama failing to respond.

Alabama special teams: C

James Burnip had a busy first half. It wasn’t productive. None of his three punts were longer than 50 yards. None of them landed inside the 20-yard line. He returned a punt over 50 yards and inside the 20-yard line in the second half.

Graham Nicholson made the 22-yard field goal attempt, the Crimson Tide’s only points.

Alabama coaching: F

Alabama looked stunned Saturday night. Milroe couldn’t shake off its offensive woes. The defense couldn’t stop the Oklahoma running game. And when the game gets out of control, there is no life left in Alabama.

Alabama football vs. Oklahoma overall: F

Alabama closed out all talk of an SEC Championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff in 60 minutes in Norman, Oklahoma.

Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. reach out to him [email protected] or follow him @_ColinGay In X, it was formerly known as Twitter.

This article was first published in The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football suffered a road loss against Oklahoma. Post-match report card