Oklahoma football pulled off the unthinkable on Saturday, absolutely dominating College Football Playoff hopefuls Alabama by a score of 24-3. It was definitely one of the biggest Week 13 upsets and after the game, head coach Brent Venables revealed the key to the Sooners taking home the victory.
Venables said Oklahoma was the “more physical team”, per ESPN. He’s not wrong, either. They had 205 rushing yards in the first two quarters alone and ultimately outgained Bama 257-70 on the ground. Overall, the Sooners had 325 yards compared to just 234 for the Crimson Tide. With the win, Oklahoma improved to 6-5.
While Oklahoma football certainly thrived on both sides of the ball, it did help that Tide QB Jalen Milroe had one of his worst games of the season. He threw three interceptions and also never got his run game going, which has been a clear strength all year.
Bama head coach Kalen DeBoer didn’t hold back on his true feelings about what he saw:
“We got to be better in all ways,” DeBoer said. “Some simple things, uncharacteristic things, happened early in the game where we didn’t get the momentum on our side. And really, it comes down to the end of the first half [with] them scoring a touchdown and the turnovers really kind of changing the momentum of the game there.”
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Oklahoma strictly focused on their efficiency on the ground. Quarterback Jackson Arnold attempted just 11 passes but torched the Alabama defense with his legs, running for 131 yards on 25 carries. The Sooners didn’t even need to throw the ball here and instead just exploited their opponents’ weakness — the run defense.
OU will have another tough task in their season finale as they head to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers. But after beating a quality Bama team, the Sooners will be feeling very confident about another win.
Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn’t producing content for CP, he’s writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.