No. 7 Alabama stunned on the road by Oklahoma, losing 24-3

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) runs the ball in front of Oklahoma linebacker Samuel Omosigho (24) during the first quarter of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

No. 7 Alabama is now in a desperate fight to keep its hopes of making the 12-team college football playoffs following its 24-3 loss to unranked Oklahoma on the road Saturday night.

“Obviously extremely disappointed, frustrated,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We worked, I thought, extremely hard all week. Put a plan together … Good energy. Excited to come here on the road. We’ve got to play better. We got to be better in all ways.”

Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, who had been one of the nation’s best players, had his worst game of the season. He completed 11 of 26 passes for 164 yards with three interceptions and gained just seven yards on 15 carries for Alabama (8-3, 4-3, No. 7 CFP). The Sooners held Alabama to 234 yards.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s fans literally couldn’t wait to celebrate their team’s victory over Alabama. An overzealous mob stormed the field with 28 seconds remaining.

After an announcement that the game was not over, the field was cleared. The Sooners took a knee to run out the clock in their stunning win. After that, thousands of Oklahoma fans returned to the field and partied for more than 10 minutes as songs such as “Jump Around” by House of Pain and “FE!N” by Travis Scott played.

True freshman Xavier Robinson ran for career highs of 107 yards and two touchdowns as Oklahoma became bowl eligible and took coach Brent Venables off the hot seat.

“We finally got the result we want and we put it all together,” Venables said. “I just want to thank our players — congratulate our players and the staff for a really tough, challenging season. And I just appreciate their belief, their leadership, their work, their strain, their competitive spirit, the willingness to continue to come back week in and week out and continue to believe and do the things that we’ve asked them to do.”

Jackson Arnold ran for 131 yards on 25 carries and completed 9 of 11 passes for the Sooners (6-5, 2-5 SEC), who won their final home game of the season. It was Oklahoma’s first Southeastern Conference home win after leaving the Big 12 this past summer.

“It’s huge,” Arnold said. “I’ll say this would be a signature win in my playing career. You don’t have many like this. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the field rushed again when I play. But it’s special, especially on Senior Night with all the seniors and all the other dudes I look up to.”

The Sooners dealt a severe blow to Alabama’s chances of receiving a College Football Playoff berth.

In addition, Alabama lost linebacker Deontae Lawson to a lower extremity injury in the second quarter, and he will be evaluated when the team gets home.

Robinson’s 18-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left in the second quarter put the Sooners up 10-3, a score that held up until halftime. Oklahoma outgained the Crimson Tide 242 yards to 97 before the break.

Milroe completed 2 of 7 passes for 62 yards and ran nine times for minus-2 yards before the break. Oklahoma outgained Alabama 118 yards to 15 in the second quarter and kept the ball for just over 11 of the 15 minutes.

Milroe threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams in the fourth quarter, but illegal touching was called on Williams. It was on fourth down, and the loss-of-down penalty meant Alabama turned the ball over on downs.

Oklahoma’s Eli Bowen intercepted Milroe on the third play of the second half and returned it 25 yards to the Alabama 14. Robinson’s 1-yard touchdown run increased Oklahoma’s lead to 17-3.

On the next possession, Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis intercepted Milroe and ran it back 49 yards for a touchdown to put the Sooners up 24-3 with 8:05 left in the third quarter.

The Crimson Tide have been up and down this season, and they picked the wrong night to be down. Alabama lost this game in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Alabama will take a steep drop for losing to an unranked team it was heavily favored to beat.

Alabama hosts Auburn on Saturday for the annual Iron Bowl, with Auburn beating No. 15 at home Saturday night.

(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)