Alabama Football's Troubling Trend Allows Oklahoma To Upset Crimson Tide

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - No. 4 Alabama fell to No. 11 Oklahoma in Bryant-Denny Stadium 23-21 in a painstakingly frustrating affair as the Crimson Tide saw its eight-game winning streak come to an end. Alabama out-gained Oklahoma by nearly 200 yards and ran 24 more offensive plays, but special teams errors and turnovers allowed the Sooners to stay just out of reach as Kalen DeBoer lost the first home game in his tenure in Tuscaloosa.

Turnovers were on everyone's lips after the game as the Crimson Tide lost the battle 3-0 to the Sooners, but one aspect in particular has become a troubling trend for an Alabama offense that's done well throughout the year protecting the football.

Key Turnovers Alabama Football's Kryptonite in Loss to Oklahoma

Oklahoma defensive end Taylor Wein got into the Alabama backfield at the end of the third quarter and hit Ty Simpson from behind, forcing Simpson to cough up the football on third-and-nine. Oklahoma linebacker Kendal Daniels fell on the football and gave the Sooners the ball back on the Crimson Tide 38-yard line.

"Yeah, they were just putting a lot of guys on the line like we knew they would do," Simpson said. "They would drop some, then bring some, then they'd get two in the back and that was that."

The Sooners went on to kick a 24-yard field goal to go ahead 23-21, ultimately serving as the game's final score.

Alabama's largely protected the ball well throughout the year, only losing possession six times all season entering Saturday's game, but four of the six turnovers came in similar fashion, a sack fumble.

Wein's sack fumble marked the fifth consecutive game the Crimson Tide has coughed up possession as Simpson's been hit in the backfield. Alabama survived the first four, defeating Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina and LSU, but Oklahoma's proved deadly as the Sooners held onto it's minuscule lead and served the Crimson Tide a loss.

Simpson complimented the Sooners defensive game plan, attributing his mistakes, including the fumble to exotic pressures and a complicated blitz scheme.

"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's defense has responded throughout the trend fairly well, holding three teams to field goals, forcing Tennessee to punt, while allowing a touchdown to Missouri after the sack-fumble, but Saturday's game against Oklahoma, even holding the Sooners to a field goal wasn't enough.

Kalen DeBoer highlighted Simpson's need to improve in his ability to feel the life of a play, particularly against elite defenses like the Sooners.

“Yeah, I mean, with the pressure that they brought, he's got to get rid of it and be OK with throwing it away," DeBoer said. "You can only hold on for so long, and I feel like with the blitz they had, you’re going to get overwhelmed and outnumbered. So you’ve just got to understand the situation. I know it's third down, and he wants to stay on the field, but he's got to understand, you know, your defense playing pretty good too. You’ve just got to live with punting once in a while.”

Alabama's offense has responded all season after giving up a sack-fumble, scoring 10 points against Missouri, 14 against Tennessee, 22 against South Carolina and three against LSU. Saturday, against the best defense of the group, the Crimson Tide wasn't able to recover, going three-and-out and then turning the ball over on downs in the two possessions after the error.

The Auburn Tigers are fifth in the SEC in sacks, getting to quarterbacks 26 times and the defense has recovered all five of the fumbles they've forced. Alabama must solve the protection issues plaguing its offensive line and Simpson must get better at understanding when to give up on a play if the Crimson Tide is to overcome its sack-fumble issues.