It threw Alabama off its recent track of building momentum into a violent, sudden move. Jalen Milroe, the quarterback who led the Crimson Tide back to the title game at LSU, threw the season two Saturdays later at Oklahoma.

The stunning 24-3 final was Alabama’s first touchdown-free game since the 2011 classic with LSU. There probably won’t be a Mulligan like the one he got after the 9-6 overtime loss thirteen years ago, although nothing is fully settled in this new playoff world.

A shocking turnaround after the 42-14 humiliation of LSU two weeks ago was as ugly a scene as this program has felt in recent history.

A second defeat as a double-digit favorite means the first regular season with three defeats since 2010.

And another plunge into uncharted depths for a program that has had an unprecedented string of successes, but none that felt as catastrophic as this one. Losing a game in which the opponent managed only 68 passing yards and only twelve turnovers melts the brain of a modern football observer.

Alabama’s total yards of 234 yards were the fewest since a win at Arkansas in 2014, a 14-13 slog that ultimately survived. In just sixteen games since 1998, Alabama has won fewer, just three since Nick Saban’s hiring. Alabama’s three interceptions were the most since the 2011 opener with Kent State.

There just isn’t a lot of positivity that Alabama can bring from Norman to Bryant-Denny Stadium next Saturday.

The opposite is true for an Auburn program that felt nothing but gut-wrenching pain in Jordan-Hare Stadium this season. They were on their way to perhaps their biggest failure after sprinting to a 21-0 lead before falling behind in the closing moments.

Not another plague in the fourth quarter.

Instead, the kicking game that so spectacularly failed the Tigers in the first ten games became a savior in the eleventh. A 29-yarder sent the game to overtime and a 41-yarder was needed for a third overtime before the much-maligned passing play produced the fourth overtime winner (with the help of a game-ending Aggie drop pass).

Payton Throne completed 19 of his 31 throws for 301 yards, two touchdowns and a single interception.

Receiver Cam Coleman caught seven balls for 128 yards — a second straight triple-digit game for the five-star prospect who epitomized Hugh Freeze’s recruiting prowess now coming his way as his freshman season comes to a close. He is the first Tiger since Sammie Coates in 2013 to play consecutive 100-meter races in a maroon uniform.

That’s the story of an Auburn offense with the talent of SEC candidates at running back and the receiver besieged by blunders that ruined a season that arrived with hopes for an extension.

Instead, success was redefined in recent weeks as bowl eligibility and SEC wreckage status replaced the battle for meaningful postseason play on the target sheet.

A night-time field storm was the emotional release of a few anxious seasons in which a new low came almost every Saturday.

The same was essentially true this season for Oklahoma, a proud program that stumbled in SEC darkness until Saturday night.

Two 1-5 teams throwing paint on SEC tiebreaker scenarios along with the pencil sketches of playoff brackets. The same was true for Florida, which went to the scrap heap in September and handed Mississippi a third loss earlier in the day.

The SEC’s rising middle and lower classes deepened the competition during the pre-holiday weekend, traditionally decorated with cupcakes.

Oh, there was blood Saturday.

Thus, the future of uncertainty and subsequent disaster has marked a season in which no one is safe, because rebirth can be a kick-off.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.