The Oklahoma Sooners took on the Alabama Crimson Tide in front of a raucous crowd inside Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The crowd was into it, and on senior night, the Oklahoma Sooners started strong against the Alabama Crimson Tide on both sides of the ball.
The Sooners came into the game looking to run the ball frequently, stealing a page out of the Vanderbilt game plan. And it was effective. The Sooners created big runs by Xavier Robinson and Jackson Arnold to push into Sooners’ territory in the first half.
An excellent first quarter was marred by miscues in Alabama territory. A fumble by Taylor Tatum wiped out Robinson’s big run. On their next drive, Bauer Sharp dropped a wide-open pass from wide receiver Brenan Thompson, and Zach Schmit missed a field goal to end another promising drive with zero points.
But the Sooners hung in there. The defense continued to bottle up Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.
On Alabama’s only scoring drive, wide receivers Germie Bernard and Ryan Williams created plays of 30-plus yards to put the Crimson Tide in the red zone. The defense stiffened to force a field goal, but the Tide took a 3-0 lead.
With the defense playing a fantastic game, the offense finally rewarded it.
The Sooners had an 11-play drive that resulted in a field goal. Then, after the defense forced another punt, Oklahoma went on a 12-play drive that covered 5:14 of game time. Arnold ran tough throughout the drive, which was capped by an 18-yard touchdown run by Xavier Robinson to put Oklahoma up, 10-3.
It was domination in the first half. The Sooners racked up 242 yards of offense and 205 rushing yards. The OU defense held Alabama to 97 yards and just 35 yards on the ground.
Alabama started the second half with the ball, but the Oklahoma Sooners kept the momentum. After the Crimson Tide picked up a first down, Milroe attempted to throw a wide receiver screen to the right side. True freshman cornerback Eli Bowen read the screen and worked around the blocker to step in front of the pass and intercept the ball, returning it to the Alabama 14-yard line. Five plays later, Xavier Robinson punched it in for his second touchdown of the night to give the Sooners a 17-3 lead early in the half.
On Alabama’s second possession, it picked up a couple of first downs, but facing a second-and-11, Milroe dropped back to pass and threw it into the waiting arms of Kip Lewis, who returned it 49 yards for his second pick six of the season.
The Oklahoma defense held up in the third quarter to keep the Crimson Tide off the board and maintain their three-touchdown lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Alabama Crimson Tide looked to convert a fourth-and-3 on Ryan Williams incredible acrobatic catch in the end zone. But the play was called back for illegal touching after a formation issue by Alabama. The call negated the touchdown and resulted in a loss of down, leading to a turnover on downs, giving the ball back to the Sooners.
It’s a play that will be discussed all week as it took points off the board and looks like another critical error by the same officiating crew that came under fire for overturning a controversial pass interference call in the Georgia-Texas game. That was the game Texas fans threw bottles on the field, resulting in a stoppage.
Alabama had another great opportunity to score in the fourth quarter with around seven minutes remaining. But once they got into OU territory, the defense once again stood tall and forced the Tide into a fourth-and-10. Defensive end R Mason Thomas came up with an incredible rush once again, and reached Milroe just as he was releasing the ball, it was knocked into the air and senior Woodi Washington came down with the interception in his final home game for the Oklahoma Sooners.
Oklahoma took over with 6:47 remaining in the game and closed the game with one final drive, converting on fourth-and-2 to take it to the two-minute timeout. The Sooners ran out the clock and pulled off the incredible upset win over the No. 7 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Sooner Nation stormed the field after the incredible performance by the Oklahoma Sooners.
In the win, Jackson Arnold ran for 131 yards on 25 attempts. Making good decisions with the football and picking up a lot of tough yards. True freshman running back Xavier Robinson ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries for the first 100-yard game of his career.
The Sooners defense held Alabama to its fewest points since 2004 and it’s the first time it has been held without a touchdown since 2011. OU held the Alabama offense to 234 yards rushing and won the turnover battle three to one, including a pick-six. OU came up with nine tackles for loss and three sacks as they kept Jalen Milroe uncomfortable all night.
The Sooners (6-5) are now bowl eligible, keeping intact their bowl streak that dates to 1999.
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