Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners defeated the College Football Playoff hopefuls Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday night in Norman, Oklahoma. From start to finish, the Sooners dominated the game, imposing their will offensively and wreaking havoc defensively.

For the Tide, the loss means the end of a shot at the SEC championship and likely a spot in the College Football Playoff. Alabama moves to 8-3 this season, its first season with more than two losses since 2010, when the Tide finished 10-3 with a win in the Capital One Bowl.

Alabama returns home to take on Auburn in the final game of the season on November 30 at 2:30 PM CST.

Opening statement: “Okay, well, we finally got the result we wanted when we finally put everything together. I just want to thank our players, congratulate our players and the staff on a very challenging, tough season. I appreciate their belief , their leadership, their work, their excitement, their competitive spirit, their willingness to keep coming back week in and week out and keep believing and doing the things we’ve asked them to do “You just do some winning required to take something like superman, a heroic one effort. It’s playing with incredible effort. Take care of the ball. Winning never negotiates, as we’ve said. Over the last almost two years, I think we’re 13-0, and if we haven’t taken care of the ball, we’re going to be this season. 0-5 We’ve taken care of the ball, won the turnover margin our butts off There’s been a few games that have gotten away from us late, but this is a team that continues to show up week in and week out They’ve hit first, they have struck back, and this marks the first time in any of these games that they have batted last. We had the lead in three of our last SEC games, but we couldn’t figure out how to bat last. I think this ties in with, “The harder it is, the more epic the story.” That was really good football that we beat tonight, and what I’m most proud of is that there was nothing by chance about it. It was a game of physicality, a game of execution, a game of precision, a game of timing and a game where we really did a great job of complementing each other in all three phases. We had to overcome things, we dropped some points early on with the fumble and missed field goal. We dropped the touchdown on the double pass, and you thought that could come back to haunt you against a really good team. That’s certainly possible. Fantastic performance. Really proud of the coaches, and especially the defensive staff. The game plan was excellent, the execution by the players was even better. Just a true work of art, and they had answers for Alabama every step of the way. And then our offensive staff, I told you all how proud I was of them (…) The players have followed suit, put their heads down, they’ve had juice, they’ve had energy. they had a great plan, they had rhythm. Tonight was another example of that. They did a great job keeping Alabama off balance. (Joe Jon Finley) called a great play and the players, including Jackson Arnold, went out and executed it in a very efficient manner. Jackson was excellent, had a rushing career and made good decisions. We did what we had to do to win. We wanted to play a shortened game without so many possessions. Alabama is one of the most explosive teams in college football, so we wanted to do exactly what we did. Defense controlled field position, we scored on three turnovers, three picks, applied a lot of pressure against a really talented offensive line and a fantastic quarterback who is hard to bottle up. (…) I’m just very proud of the boys for continuing to stack up day after day. Winning owes you nothing. What it takes to try to give it your all to try to get a chance to win, and to chase success and what it takes to do that, again, it’s not loyal to you. Sometimes life isn’t fair. You do everything asked of you, and you still fall short. I’m most proud of the guys who continue to believe that. (…) Wonderful evening. It’s about crazy times. I want our players and staff to really enjoy this moment. If it’s anything, it’s confirmation: we are good enough. Even with one hand tied behind his back in terms of schedule as of today with the numerous injuries. They didn’t make excuses, they just went to work.”

About developing players: “I knew it was coming, but can we do it consistently? We had shown signs here and there, but tonight I think it’s a culmination of continuing the development process as we said. (.. .) Our tight ends blocking, hating people and being physical. The running backs playing with a purpose, running through garbage, being physical, just getting into a rhythm together. There’s some consistency there, there’s some chemistry there. there is something of experience. This is a game of performance, this is a game of execution, so tonight was just a culmination of getting better and doing what we needed to do to win as a team.

About containing Milroe: “It’s hard to explain but it’s just about discipline and physicality. There’s a certain timeliness to it. We defended a number of runs with some guile. The players performed at an incredibly high level, the staff did a fantastic job to put together a bulletproof plan. (…) The players played with great aggressiveness and expectation. I felt like they had another great week of preparation, all the work they put in and the staff that put them in. position to be successful way, the staff and the players had an answer to what Alabama was doing.”

When storming the field: “It’s more about the players and just having a really cool moment. (…) It’s not normal here, the standards are very high. It was cool, it was quite magical, and I think about the players They are the ones who were in the middle of it and paid this incredible price for victory (…) To take on Alabama, one of the most tradition-rich programs in college football history, and then have two giants working to make that happen to make it happen in a really epic way, in a dominant way try to use those words or phrases, but that was a really cool moment for these guys.

On the Sooners’ physicality: “You want to have a basis that defines you, that is an identity. Being physical, you want to play with relentless effort. If you turn on the tape, what will the evidence say? (…) This is my view, that Oklahoma was absolutely ruthless in all three phases and knocked out Alabama. They had an answer every step of the way, and without a doubt, Oklahoma was the most physical football team on the field tonight. That was the vision. I’m not beating my chest here, but I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge a physically dominant performance.”

On what this shows for the offensive line moving forward: “Well, it shows again what they are capable of. This is a development game, you are dealing with young players and new boys. There are new formations week in, week out. It shows what we are capable of, and the toughness It’s hard to keep coming back, it’s not easy You have no other options, you get off the mat (…) Strong hearts, calloused hands, that’s what “Gladiator” movie is all about last night, and it was right on time. My husband Denzel Washington has overachieved again. I am very grateful for all those guys. Our staff consists, as I said, of a group of coaches who have been winning at the highest level for a long time. Their names are drugged through the mud.”

On offensive coordinator search: “The job will not become more attractive than it already is. We have a line all the way to the Gulf of Mexico for this opening. That said, it is a very attractive opportunity. We will find the best combination, new staff and then what also, that will help continue to build and move this program in the right direction. But I believe in these guys that are here right now.

On touchdown before halftime: “It was huge. It built momentum and really got on the same page. We came out with a lot of energy in the first half and this is a team that comes back and fights back and hits back. This game was going to be defined by how we finished, and I thought we finished the game in that third quarter (…) Timeliness, situationally, that was a big part of the game to create the lead that was insurmountable.

About Eli Bowen’s performance: “He is a great young player with a very bright future. His best quality is that he is so humble. He is the same man every day. He is incredibly talented, the moment is never too big for him. He is just a great all-round teammate who has matured beyond his years. If he continues to do those things, he will continue to have a great future (…) He really helped us form a good defense with his development, his rapid rise and his emergence. “

On fans storming early: “You can’t blame them, they’re just excited. A good problem, I hope. I hope no one gets fined. Don’t take it out of my pocket.’