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Oklahoma Sooners at Alabama Crimson Tide

Stellar Knight in Sugar Bowl as 'Bama Goes Down

  Oklahoma 45 --   Alabama 31

Game Time: 1/2/2014 at 7:30 PM
ESPN
Location: New Orleans, LA
Attendance: 70,473
Opp Coach: Nick Saban
Weather at Game Time
Game Played Indoors
Temperature: 47°F
Humidity: 50%
Pressure: 30.29 in
Visibility: 10 mile(s)
Wind: N 28 mph
Conditions: Clear
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot
Oklahoma 14 17 0 14 45
Alabama 10 7 7 7 31
Poll Standings OU ALA
Associated Press Poll113
Coaches' Poll103

Scoring Summary

First QuarterOUALA
ALA13:11T J Yeldon 1 yd run (Cade Foster kick)
Drive Summary: 4 plays 75 yards in 01:49
07
OU09:43Lacoltan Bester 45 yd pass from Trevor Knight (Mike Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 1 plays 45 yards in 00:11
77
ALA07:02Cade Foster 27 yd field goal
Drive Summary: 6 plays 65 yards in 02:41
710
OU01:53Jalen Saunders 8 yd pass from Trevor Knight (Mike Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 13 plays 78 yards in 05:09
1410
Second QuarterOUALA
ALA14:03DeAndrew White 67 yd pass from A J McCarron (Cade Foster kick)
Drive Summary: 5 plays 80 yards in 02:50
1417
OU11:45Mike Hunnicutt 47 yd field goal
Drive Summary: 7 plays 25 yards in 02:18
1717
OU02:59Jalen Saunders 43 yd pass from Trevor Knight (Mike Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 7 plays 66 yards in 02:27
2417
OU01:05Sterling Shepard 13 yd run (Mike Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 1 plays 13 yards in 00:07
3117
Third QuarterOUALA
ALA08:49Derrick Henry 43 yd run (Cade Foster kick)
Drive Summary: 4 plays 60 yards in 01:20
3124
Fourth QuarterOUALA
OU10:44Sterling Shepard 9 yd pass from Trevor Knight (Mike Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 8 plays 76 yards in 03:43
3824
ALA06:22Derrick Henry 61 yd pass from A J McCarron (Cade Foster kick)
Drive Summary: 5 plays 74 yards in 01:38
3831
OU00:47Geneo Grissom 8 yd fumble return (Michael Hunnicutt kick)
Drive Summary: 1 plays 8 yards in 00:00
4531

Team Stats

  OU ALA
Total First Downs 24   20  
    Rushing 8   10  
    Passing 14   10  
    Penalties 2   0  
    3rd Down Plays 7 of 15   6 of 12  
    4th Down Plays 1 of 1   0 of 0  
Total Yards 429   516  
    Total Plays / Ave 74 - 5.8   65 - 7.9  
Rushing Yards 81   129  
    Plays / Ave 30 - 2.7   35 - 3.7  
    Fumbles / Lost 1 - 0   3 - 3  
Passing Yards 348   387  
    Catches/Attempts 32 of 44   19 of 30  
    Ave Yards 7.9   12.9  
    Interceptions Thrown 1   2  
Sacks by / Yards 7 - 54   1 - 5  
Interceptions / Yards 2 - 49   1 - 0  
Punts / Ave Yards 6 - 42.3   4 - 43.5  
Kickoff Returns / Yards 0 - 0   0 - 0  
Punt Retuns / Yards 2 - 6   2 - 18  
Penalties / Yards 11 - 95   6 - 45  
Time of Possession 30:55   29:05  
Recap

AP Recap

NEW ORLEANS -- Hello, Trevor. Farewell, AJ.

Trevor Knight's final start as a freshman sent Oklahoma's expectations soaring into 2014 while bringing a sour end to AJ McCarron's otherwise-charmed Alabama career.

Knight completed a Sugar Bowl-record 32 passes for 348 yards and four touchdowns, and No. 11 Oklahoma took down the third-ranked Crimson Tide 45-31 on Thursday night.


"It's huge for our program, to get a win like this after no one gave us a chance all year," Knight said. "We've got to ride this into next year. We can't settle with this. ... We want the big one."

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops had declined to announce a starting quarterback before the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and when Knight took the field on the Sooners' first possession, Alabama's defenders couldn't have anticipated what was in store.

Knight's completion percentage entering the game was 52.2. He had completed 47 passes all season before a breakout performance in which two of his TDs went for more than 40 yards.

Oklahoma (11-2) needed him to play that well in the 80th Sugar Bowl, the first in which the quarterbacks for both teams threw for more than 300 yards.

The victory was a sweet one for Stoops, who last offseason called talk about the Southeastern Conference being the best league in college football "propaganda."

"I have the utmost respect for Alabama, and I think this shows that obviously we can play with anybody," Stoops said. "So, enough of that. And I just watched them go through their entire conference and play pretty well. I'm not pointing any fingers. But I think sometimes the comparisons aren't necessarily very true."

His Big 12 team vanquished an Alabama squad that had been ranked No. 1 much of the past three seasons, winning the previous two national titles before its shot at a third straight was derailed by rival Auburn on the last play of the Iron Bowl in late November.

Coach Nick Saban didn't buy the notion that his team, favored by 16 points, was too deflated from its loss to Auburn to play up to its standard.

"I actually thought that the players responded in practice pretty well for this game," Saban said. "We put over 500 yards of offense up. Somebody had to do something right. I don't think that we played as well on defense as we're capable of or should have."


McCarron passed for 387 yards and two TDs, but his two interceptions set up Oklahoma TDs, and his fumble, returned for a score in the final minute, sealed Alabama's first two-game skid since its Sugar Bowl loss to Utah in January 2009.

"Put it all on me. I had two turnovers, (Oklahoma) ended up scoring 14 points and we lost by 14," said McCarron, who won 36 of his first 38 games before losing his last two. "It's football. It happens. I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I'll definitely take the loss and definitely take the blame, because a lot of it is probably my fault."

Freshman Derrick Henry's 43-yard run in the third quarter pulled Alabama to 31-24, and the Crimson Tide (11-2) forced four punts while giving up only one first down in the third quarter. But Alabama was unable to add another score before the Sooners started moving the ball again.

Knight lofted a perfect pass to Lacoltan Bester for a 34-yard gain to the Alabama 9. Shortly after, Knight rolled left all the way to the sideline before rifling a touchdown strike to Sterling Shepard, making it a two-touchdown game again with 10:44 left.

"The game has started to slow down for him where he's really starting to feel comfortable in what he can do," Stoops said of Knight.

Henry, a 6-foot-3, 238-pound true freshman, pulled Alabama within a score once more when he turned his first career reception into a tackle-shedding, 61-yard TD with 6:22 to go.

But Oklahoma was able to burn several minutes off the clock, and then the Sooners registered their seventh sack when Eric Striker stripped McCarron, and Geneo Grissom returned the ball 8 yards for a score.

Both teams entered the game with defenses ranked in the top 15 nationally, but quarterback play dominated a first half highlighted by five passing plays of 43 yards or longer, three of which went for scores.

Alabama took the opening kickoff and scored in four plays. McCarron hit Amari Cooper for 15 and 53 yards, and T.J. Yeldon ran it in from the 1.


Knight's first series ended when Alabama's Landon Collins made a diving interception of a tipped pass, but Oklahoma got it right back when Gabe Lynn picked off McCarron's pass on the next play. One play later, Knight found Bester down the right sideline for a 45-yard score.

The Sooners took their first lead when Knight found Jalen Saunders, who reached the ball across the goal line as he was being brought down.

"It's all about just getting in that rhythm, hitting a few shots early," Knight said. "The more snaps you get, the more comfortable you are."

McCarron's pinpoint pass over the middle to DeAndrew White for a 67-yard TD restored Alabama's lead early in the second quarter.

The Sooners tied it at 17 on Michael Hunnicutt's 47-yard field goal, then cashed in on two more turnovers.

Alabama appeared on the verge of a go-ahead score when Yeldon fumbled on the 8. The Sooners then reached midfield, where they converted a fourth-and-1. On the next play, Knight hit Saunders in stride down the right sideline for a 43-yard score.

McCarron's second interception, snagged by Zack Sanchez and returned to the 13, set up Shepard's 13-yard TD around the right end.






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