Alabama's Offense Struggling With Pressure: Things I Noticed In The Crimson Tide's Loss to Oklahoma

No. 4 Alabama lost to No. 11 Oklahoma on Saturday night, 23-21, as the Crimson Tide dropped its first SEC game of the season. Alabama's offense amassed 406 yards of total offense but committed two turnovers, missed a field goal, and got stopped on downs to leave the door open for the Sooners to pull off an upset.

How did Oklahoma's defense force so many mistakes in Bryant-Denny Stadium? Brent Venables brought unique pressure packages all night and decided the risk of bringing extra rushers was worth the reward of creating havoc plays. The Sooners confused Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson and got good matchups in their pass rush to create huge negative plays that the Crimson Tide couldn't overcome.

5 minutes of Oklahoma presenting different pressure looks to the Alabama offense.

What do you notice in the Crimson Tide's ability to handle the Sooners' pass rush? pic.twitter.com/wnHHYhlDWw
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) November 17, 2025

Oklahoma brought some form of a zone blitz scheme on 31 of Alabama's 48 pass plays, but the Sooners didn't always bring more than four rushers. Venables brought five or more blitzers on 11 of the 31 pressure packages, meaning on 20 plays the Sooners rushed four, dropping one or more out of the defensive line and bringing one or more from the second level, manipulating the eyes of the offensive line and quarterback Ty Simpson.

Alabama's offensive line has shuffled all season long, and that was no different on Saturday against the Sooners as the Crimson Tide started Kadyn Proctor, Kam Dewberry, Parker Brailsford, Wilkin Formby, and Michael Carroll on the line. Formby has played some right guard this season, but has primarily played right tackle, while Carroll is still growing at tackle as a freshman. The Crimson Tide only made one change throughout the night, subbing Geno VanDeMark for Dewberry and vice versa against the Sooners.

The Sooners burned the Crimson Tide with one particular look, overloading one side of the offensive line with rushers, and leaving another side of the line fairly clean, dropping defenders into different pass coverage responsibilities. Venables often did this to the boundary, or short side of the field, but mixed it up, bringing it to the field side when attacking the right side of the offensive line. This zone pressure look resulted in two sacks and two turnovers, with a third turnover negated by a pass interference call.

These pressures are not identical, but are extremely similar, showing the Sooners overload one side of the offensive line while dropping out of the other - often bringing it from the boundary.

Alabama committed two turnovers and took two sacks against the look https://t.co/IEq2OPI1cD pic.twitter.com/9iaEUUUKSZ
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) November 17, 2025

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Simpson discussed the concept after the game, acknowledging the difficult nature of the pressure package.

"Yeah, so they brought it one time that was on tape," Simpson said. "It was against Tennessee, and so they were putting five guys on the line of scrimmage, and they were bringing two off the edge. It's what I threw my pick-six on. It's what I fumbled on, and there was one time where I picked it up and they checked out of it, and they brought it to the other side."

Alabama may have had a strong plan up front dealing with the Sooners' pressure packages, but Oklahoma was so multiple in its approach that it made things challenging ot identify . Ryan Grubb said before the matchup that the Crimson Tide offense, specifically the offensive line, would have to be elite in communication when facing Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the offense wasn't consistent enough when facing pressure throughout the evening, and the Sooners took advantage with four sacks and multiple quarterback hurries. Simpson appeared to feel the pressure and was less accurate with the football as he tried to do his part in getting the ball out.

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The Oklahoma Sooners played the Crimson Tide without their best defensive end, R Mason Thomas, but still utilized their athleticism on defense to generate pressure, blitzing on 62 percent of their defensive plays according to Pro Football Focus. The analytics website calculated Simpson had 2.48 seconds to throw and opted for a 1.5 yard shorter average depth of target when blitzed, despite his offensive line producing clean pockets on 35 of his 48 passing attempts.

Alabama's offensive line blocked well, but the variable nature of Oklahoma's pressure packages created significant negatives that led to sacks, missed throws by Simpson, Sooner points, and ultimately the Crimson Tide's first loss in conference play.