Well, that was a predictably gross half of football. Alabama opened the game with a couple of three and outs and a pick six, plus gave up a 43 yard punt return and spotted the Sooners 10 points to start. To their credit, the Alabama defense pretty well stymied the Sooner offense the enter half, only giving up one run play to Mateer after the Alabama special teams fumbled a punt return on their own side of the field.
Meanwhile, outside of the turnovers, the Alabama offense wound up finding some success,
putting together two full-field scoring drives on what’s arguably the best defense in the nation, then nearly got another score on the two minute drill if Connor Talty hadn’t shanked the easy field goal as time expired.
The fact that Alabama is only down 3 points after giving up a pick-6 and two short field scores to the Sooners is a testament to the Tide defense. And while the offense has made too many bad mistakes, they’ve also moved the ball, putting up 274 yards of offense at 6.2 yards per play. Meanwhile, Oklahoma had essentially one good offensive play the entire half on a 20-yard QB scramble.
If the Tide can keep playing like they have been and eliminate the turnovers and special teams gaffes, then they should be able to take charge in the second half. The problem is… They haven’t stopped making those mistakes yet.
So, hope for the best, and Roll Tide.
