Hope no. Alabama’s 7 SEC title streak is over and a College Football Playoff appearance looks very, very unlikely after a 24-3 loss at Oklahoma.
The Crimson Tide were a 14-point favorite, but Oklahoma took control of the game with a pair of interceptions in the third quarter and its pass rush packed 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 linebacker Eli Bowen got his first career touchdown when he jumped a short screen to fellow linebacker Ryan Williams and returned the ball to the Alabama 14-yard line.
Oklahoma went up by 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 picked off Kip Lewis and Lewis returned it 49 yards for a pick-6.
Any hope Alabama had of a comeback vanished in the fourth quarter during a bizarre — and arguably incorrect — officiating sequence. Williams appeared to make a phenomenal TD catch on fourth down to cut Oklahoma’s lead to two scores. But the flag was thrown long after the game started. The call ended for illegal touching because officials said Williams was illegally covered at the line of scrimmage.
However, replays showed Williams was the only receiver on his side of the field lined up at the line of scrimmage. With the tight end on that side of the formation as well, Alabama had seven players lined up on the ball, with the two receivers flanking Williams lined up behind the line.
To be clear, the call is not why Alabama lost. The three turnovers and the inability to run the ball are a much bigger factor.
Oklahoma did a fantastic job of keeping Milroe safe. His longest run of the game was just 11 yards. He was also ineffective as a quarterback, completing just 11 of 26 passes for 164 yards. Alabama’s three points are the fewest by a Crimson Tide team since 2004.
The Sooners, meanwhile, are bowl-eligible with their sixth win, keeping a bowl streak dating back to 1998 alive.
How many SEC teams will make the playoffs?
Missing the playoffs will be a major setback for Alabama in coach Kalen DeBoer’s first season replacing Nick Saban. And it’s hard to see Alabama making the playoffs with 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 contention for the SEC title with four teams ahead of them in the standings.
And those four teams — Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia and Tennessee — all have much clearer paths to the College Football Playoff, especially if the Aggies beat the Longhorns to win the SEC title. The SEC entered Week 13 with six teams vying for a postseason berth. Now this group is already four.
Alabama has to hope Georgia loses to Georgia Tech or Tennessee falls to Vanderbilt in Week 14 before Texas beats Texas A&M. That would leave one one-loss team and a maximum of two two-loss teams in the SEC. And that may not be enough to keep Alabama in playoff contention, aside from what happens in the ACC.
Under Saban, Alabama made the four-team playoff eight times in 10 seasons. In the first year of the 12-team playoff, the Crimson Tide look like they could miss out.