Alabama football's brutal night vs. Oklahoma made worse with key injury
11/24/2024 11:19 AM
Alabama football had a nightmare of a game on Saturday night, getting blown out by Oklahoma 24-3 in Norman. This marks Alabama’s third loss of the season, which puts its hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff in serious jeopardy.
In the middle of the loss, star linebacker Deontae Lawson went down with a lower-body injury and did not return to the game. The Alabama defense missed Lawson’s presence as Oklahoma was able to move the ball and control the clock against them for a lot of the second half.
After the game, head coach Kalen DeBoer didn’t have an update on Lawson’s status, but he did discuss what it means for Alabama to not have one of its best players in the middle of the defense, according to ESPN’s Eli Lederman.
“Anytime you lose a great player like Deontae, it’s going to affect you,” DeBoer said, per Lederman. “His leadership. He’s the guy who makes a lot of the calls on the field. Just seems like he’s always in control.”
Alabama is out of contention for the SEC Championship Game, but it can still sneak into the back half of the College Football Playoff if there are more upsets during the final week of the regular season. Having Lawson back would be a major boost to the Crimson Tide’s defense if it is able to reach the final bracket.
Alabama’s inconsistencies come back to bite it against Oklahoma
Things were always going to be a little bit more difficult for Alabama in 2024 in its first season without Nick Saban as head coach, and those growing pains have popped up throughout the season.
While new head coach Kalen DeBoer has done an admirable job even after losing a good amount of talent to the transfer portal this offseason, this has been an inconsistent team that has had a handful of poor performances on both sides of the ball.
The Alabama defense was a complete no-show in an early-season loss against Vanderbilt, and its offense failed to meet the moment on Saturday in a blowout loss to Oklahoma. Those two losses, to teams trying to battle in the middle of the crowded SEC, won’t look good on a playoff resume next to a hard-fought road loss against Tennessee.
While three losses out of the mighty SEC may be good enough to sneak into the College Football Playoff as the rest of the conference, and the entirety of the Big 12, continues to trip over itself, Alabama fans can’t be satisfied with the ebbs and flows of this team.
What makes things even more frustrating is the ceiling that this Alabama team has shown. In a big win against Georgia back in September, Alabama showed off a bruising running game, an explosive passing game that could create explosive plays down the field and a defense that was all over the field, creating turnovers at every turn. Those things haven’t shown up consistently, and that’s why Alabama finds itself on the brink with one regular season game left to play.
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