Bowl game likely after Oklahoma gets unlikely final home game win
Relying on the legs of QB Jackson Arnold and true freshman RB Xavier Robinson — and a dominating defense spearheaded by veteran LB Danny Stutsman — Oklahoma soundly defeated No. 7 ranked Alabama 24-3, delivering a most improbable outcome of the Sooners’ final home game of its difficult inaugural SEC season, likely spoiling the Crimson Tide’s playoff hopes and securing OU’s 25-year bowl appearance streak, the second longest in college football.
Before Saturday night’s 6:30 pm kickoff, who would have thought this would happen?
Not many. Except the guys wearing the helmets with interlocking O and U thought so.
They played like it, anyway, throughout 60 minutes of football. It might be hindsight to say this, but Alabama never threatened the Sooners after Oklahoma scored on a 18 yard Robinson run with 36 seconds left in the second quarter.
Arnold completed 9 of 11 passes, but it was his 131 yards on 25 carries that carried the day. The Alabama defense appeared to have no answer for Arnold’s keepers.
“It’s huge,” Arnold said of the win. “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.”
Meanwhile, Robinson, a Carl Albert High School grad who drew fans’ praise after a brief showing against Missouri a week ago, was a work horse, earning 107 yards and two touchdowns and being the go-to guy to run the ball to run the second half clock out.
The focus on running the football kept ball away from Alabama. The Sooners controlled the time of possession, 34:11 to 25:49.
Meanwhile, much heralded ‘Bama QB Jalen Milroe, whose previous play earlier this season had some picked Alabama to return to the SEC championship game, as well as the playoffs, never had much time to pass. He had few lanes in which to run. He ended the first half with a minus 2 yards rushing and had completed only 2 of 7 passes for 62 yards.
Milroe finished the game completing 11 of 26 passes for 164 yards and three interceptions and gained only seven yards rushing on 15 carries.
The somewhat heralded Sooner defense, which had played outstanding throughout the year, but, no thanks to the OU offense, was not enough to win.
But, at half time Oklahoma had outgained Alabama 242 yards to 97.
On the third play of the second half Milroe’s pass was intercepted by Eli Bowen. Robinson would later run for a touchdown and the Sooners were out to a 17-3 lead, and never looked back. On the next possession, Kip Lewis had his second “Kip Six” of the season, intercepting Milroe and running 49 yards for a touchdown, extending the Sooners’ lead to 24-3, which they would maintain until thousands stormed the field.
Wow.
On Friday night Campus Corner was uncharacteristically quiet. In the minds of some, including myself, the last home game of the season, which usually brings some sadness, was instead delivering relief, given how rocky this season has been for the Sooners.
There was a seemingly inevitable “L” in the win-loss columns in store for this weekend. And we were all ready for the bleeding to be over.
All that changed on Saturday night, when offense, defense and, yes, the fans brought such an A game to Owen Field that it then seemed as though this delightful late chapter in the tragedy which has been the ’24 season was exactly how it was supposed to be.
And for the first time since Oklahoma defeated Nebraska in its equally improbable run to a national championship in 2020, the fans stormed Owen Field. Back in 2000 it was a sudden release of collective elation that, indeed the Sooners, who had suffered through humiliating torture during the “Blake years”, were back and on a run to greatness.
Saturday’s mass storm of the field wasn’t under those circumstances at all. But, they reflect an eruption in relief that maybe, just maybe, the Sooners have turned a corner. Albeit one game away from the regular season ending.
But, maybe this win will be a foretelling of better times to come. In 2025.
Yes, hope springs eternal.
NEXT: Oklahoma at LSU. 6 pm November 30.
Follow
