Kalen DeBoer: Alabama players 'certainly better remember' what happened against Oklahoma in 2024

Nearly a year ago, Alabama played Oklahoma with all of their playoff hopes still in front of them, and suffered their worst loss of the season in Norman. Now, 352 days later, the Crimson Tide will look to avoid another outcome that could affect their postseason goals as the Sooners come to Tuscaloosa on Saturday afternoon.

During his press conference on Monday, Kalen DeBoer was asked how the 24-3 loss last year to OU would be emphasized ahead of their rematch at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday. He said that his players who were part of that defeat a season ago best remember how they felt from it, with Oklahoma, already being one of the best programs in college football, also being an even better team this time around.

“You know, we have a lot of new players on the team, so there are players that didn’t experience that. The ones that did certainly better remember,” stated DeBoer. “And understand that, more importantly, you’re facing a really good program that, you know, obviously, we went to their place and got beat up pretty good last year, and that’s who’s coming to town this week. And so, you know, Coach Venables has done an amazing job instilling a culture there, and, you know, got a team that is coming here hungry. They’re in the hunt for a lot of different things as far as reaching their goals.”

No. 7 Alabama lost 24-3 to Oklahoma in the penultimate game of last fall, being shutout after taking a 3-0 lead as QB Jalen Milroe threw three interceptions and their offense, going on very short drives even on ones that didn’t result in one of their four turnovers, posted just 234 total yards. That gave the Crimson Tide their third loss of the regular season, which ended up being by the largest margin of loss of their four last season and their largest margin of loss in any game since the national championship in 2018. It then effectively ended their chances of being in the College Football Playoff, as the Tide would finish as the first team out of the field for the CFP.

OU is then just better going into this year’s game against ‘Bama. While last season’s team just got to bowl eligibility with that win, the Sooners currently sit at 7-2 overall and, ahead of tomorrow night’s update to the ratings, are at No. 12 in the CFP Rankings.

Beyond that aspect, though, DeBoer doesn’t want his team too focused on their opponent. Their best chance to make up for what happened last season in this game is to be at their own best.

“You know, for us, we do then try to make sure that we always are focused on, really, this team being, you know, what we’re centered on and us improving. And, that’s the focus,” said DeBoer. “Again, how did we get to this point this year to where we’ve had the success? What’s it going to take to be our best on Saturday? And so, again, you try to hone in on that.”

Alabama has already made up for two of their three regular-season losses from a season ago, turning those two by a combined margin of 12 points last year to a pair of wins this season by a margin of 33 points in total over Vanderbilt and Tennessee. DeBoer now hopes to see the Tide take those final lessons and apply them to this weekend against Oklahoma.

“You can’t help but remember, you know, the past, and those questions you asked just now or also asked, you know, a few weeks ago when we played Vanderbilt and so forth,” said DeBoer. “And so, you know, our guys, you know, should remember that, because our experiences help us be better the next time around.”