It’s going to go down as a watershed moment for Brent Venables
and the
Oklahoma Sooners.
They traveled to Tuscaloosa this past weekend and came away with a 23-21 win over the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. It was the biggest win of the Venables era, by far and the Sooners now find themselves at 8-2with two games remaining and with a great chance to finish 10-2 with a high seeding in the College Football Playoff.
Just a few weeks ago, the Sooners had to have felt like they were on the edge of disaster after a loss to No. 8 Ole Miss. They’ve now gone on to beat No. 14 Tennessee and No. 4 Alabama in rapid succession, and SEC talking head Paul Finebaum believes this turnaround may have saved Venables’ perception in Norman.
From potentially on the hot seat to the talk of the town.
“It’s pretty stunning for a couple of reasons,” Finebaum said of Oklahoma’s win over Alabama on “The Matt Barrie Show” (h/t On3). “Three weeks ago, when Ole Miss beat Oklahoma in Norman, all of a sudden Brent Venables’ job seemed to be on the line, and now he’s on the door of getting to the Playoff. So, it’s really been an extraordinary turnaround when you think about them winning at Tennessee and Alabama. But Alabama is the story here.”
As it relates to Alabama, Finebaum believes that quarterback Ty Simpson may have taken the biggest hit from the loss.
He’s been considered a Heisman Trophy contender for much of this season, but he completed just 28-of-42 passes against the Sooners for 326 yards, one touchdown, and one interception with a fumble.
The interception came on a 1st-and-10 from the Oklahoma 23 late in the first quarter. Simpson was picked off by Eli Bowen of the Sooners, who took it back 87 yards to the house to put the Sooners on the board. At the time, the Tide were up 10-0.
Paul Finebaum believes Alabama QB Ty Simpson is no longer a Heisman Trophy contender
The fumble came in the waning seconds of the third quarter with Alabama clinging to a one-point lead.
Both were extremely costly for the Tide, and Finebaum believes those moments were also costly to Simpson’s Heisman chances.
“Just some really terrible play by former Heisman Trophy candidate Ty Simpson, and some inexplicable calls down the stretch,” Finebaum said.
“Alabama finally got a couple good runs, which they haven’t been able to get all year, and it just didn’t really matter, because Ty Simpson — he could not make anything happen,” he continued.
What a massive reversal of fortunes for two of the biggest brands in college football.
