College Football Old School Game of the Week: Oklahoma Survives Alabama's Upset Bid

Oklahoma's Eric Bassey would score the game-sealing touchdown with a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Sooners' 2002 win over Alabama.

On September 7,2002 the Alabama Crimson Tide traveled to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in the first regular season matchup between the two historic programs.

The two teams had met before in the 1962 Orange Bowl won by the Crimson Tide 17-0 and again in the 1970 Bluebonnet Bowl which finished in a 24-24 tie.

The Sooners would came into the game as the favorite as they were ranked #2 in the country as they were seen as a national title contended under head coach Bob Stoops, who had led Oklahoma back to national promience after years of medicority as the Sooners won the 2000 national championship in Stoops' second season as head coach.

Going into the 2002 season, the biggest question amongst Oklahoma fans was who was going to be the starting quarterback between redshirt sophomore Jason White and senior Nate Hybl.

Despite coming off a torn ACL in his left knee that he suffered on a quarterback rollout the previous season, White won the starting quarterback job as he would get the start in the Sooners' season opener with the Tulsa Golden Hurricane which Oklahoma won 37-0.

The Sooners looked to White and senior running back Quentin Griffin, who had rushed for 237 yards in the win over Tulsa, to lead the Sooners to a win over the Crimson Tide, who came into the game having barely escaped with a 39-34 win over Middle Tennessee in their season opener.

Seven months earlier, the Tide were put on probation for illegal benefits to players that had occurred during the tenure of head coach Mike Dubose from 1997 through 2000 as the NCAA hit Alabama with a two-year bowl ban and loss of 21 scholarships.

The Tide were led by head coach Dennis Franchione, who was in his second season as the Alabama head coach who now had to coach a football program that could not go to a bowl game in 2002, meaning the Tide had very little to lose as a win over Oklahoma could be one of the highlights of the season.

Oklahoma was set to get the ball to start the game but the Crimson Tide would pull a fast one on the Sooners as they executed a surprise onside kick to perfection as kicker Lane Bearden recovered his own kick to give Alabama the ball at their 47-yard-line.

From there, the Tide would drive to the Sooners' 28-yard-line until Michael Ziifie kicked a 45-yard field goal to give Alabama an early 3-0 lead.

The Tide would get the ball back in Oklahoma territory for their second possession after wide receiver Lance Taylor partially blocked Blake Ferguson's punt to give Alabama the ball at the Sooners' 40-yard-line.

However, the Tide could only move four yards on three plays as they settled for a 52-yard field goal attempt by Ziifie which was blocked by Oklahoma linebacker Pasha Jackson to keep the score at 3-0 in favor of the Tide.

The Sooners would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Tide who would also go three-and-out as they were set to punt the ball back to Oklahoma when the snap from center Nick Ridings went over the head over Bearden and into the end zone.

Bearden would then kick the ball out of the end zone resulting in a safety to cut the Alabama lead to 3-2 as Oklahoma would get the ball back at the 50-yard-line following the free kick.

Following an one-yard run by Griffin to start the drive, White would complete passes of six yards to Griffin and 11 yards to Curtis Fagan to give Oklahoma a 1st down at the Alabama 32-yard-line when White found Mark Clayton for the first touchdown of the game to give the Sooners a 9-3 lead with 6:09 to go in the first quarter.

Oklahoma wide receiver Mark Clayton would catch four passes for 129 yards and score two touchdowns.

Alabama would start its next drive at their 29-yard-line when on the second play of the drive, quarterback Tyler Watts was intercepted by Oklahoma cornerback Derrick Strait, whose 15-yard runback gave the Sooners a 1st & goal at the Crimson Tide six-yard-line.

But the Sooners could not cash in on the turnover as three plays would pick up just one yard as Trey Dicarlo was called upon to attempt a 22-yard field goal which was blocked by strong safety Waine Bacon that was scooped up by free safety Charles Jones who ran it back 30 yards to the Alabama 38-yard-line when the Tide offense would begin its next possession.

The Oklahoma defense would force a three-and-out to give their offense the ball back at their 47-yard-line as an offsides penalty and an incomplete pass would bring up 2nd & 5 when disaster struck for White as he tore the ACL in his right knee during a rollout to the right, similiar to the play where he tore the ACL in his left knee one year earlier.

Hybl would come on to take over as starting quarterback as he completed a four-yard pass to Fagan on his first play from scrimmage on a 3rd & 4 to give Oklahoma a 1st down at the Alabama 43-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

Oklahoma would end up punting the ball back to Alabama on that possession as the two teams traded punts until late in the second quarter when Strait stripped tailback Santonio Beard of the ball as linebacker Teddy Lehman would make the recovery to give the Sooners the ball at the Crimson Tide 49-yard-line.

It would take Oklahoma one play to get into the end zone as Hybl threw deep and connected with wide receiver Mark Clayton for a 49-yard touchdown to increase Oklahoma's lead to 16-3 with 2:25 left in the second quarter.

After an Alabama three-and-out, the Sooners got the ball back at their 46-yard-line as Hybl would complete three straight passes for 16 yards to move Oklahoma to the Alabama 38-yard-line where on a 3rd & 5, Hybl connected with Clayton on a curl route that would go for 37 yards and give the Sooners a 1st & goal at the Alabama one-yard-line with 16 seconds to go in the half.

Following an incomplete pass and a Kejuan Jones that went for no gain, the Sooners were faced with a 3rd & goal with three seconds to go before halftime, meaning Oklahoma had just one play before the halftime break.

Instead of taking the chip shot field goal, Stoops opted to go for the touchdown which he got when Hybl was able to sneak into the end zone as time expired in the first half with Oklahoma ahead 23-3.

Alabama would get the ball to start the second half as the Tide would put together their best drive of the game thus far as they travled 66 yards in 12 plays with 10 of those plays being runs as running back Ahmaad Galloway would punch it in for a four-yard touchdown that cut the Sooners' lead to 23-10 with 9:14 to go in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Bearden would attempt a pooch kick that Lehman tried to catch but was unable to secure the kick after a collison with a teammate as Chris James would make the recovery to give the ball to the Crimson Tide at the Oklahoma 43-yard-line.

Watts would complete a 37-yard pass to wide receiver Sam Collins to help the Tide drive to the Sooners' four-yard-line where Ziifie would attempt a 22-yard field goal, only for the kick to sail wide left to keep the score at 23-10 in favor of the Sooners.

After an Oklahoma three-and-out, the Tide got the ball back at their 43-yard-line as a 22-yad pass from Watts to tight end Donald Clarke would move the Sooners to the Alabama 26-yard-line where on 4th & 10, Franchoine would go for the 1st down instead of attempting a field goal.

The gamble would not pay off as Watts would threw an incomplete pass resulting in a turnover on downs and giving the ball back to the Sooners at their 26-yard-line.

The Alabama defense would force another three-and-out as Oklahoma was set to punt the ball back to the Tide when the Alabama special teams unit struck again as defensive end Leslie Williams would block the punt as Taylor, who had partially blocked a punt earlier in the game, recoverd the ball and ran it in for a nine-yard touchdown that cut the Sooners' lead to 23-17 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

Alabama's defense would keep up the pressure on the Sooners as back-to-back quarterback sacks would lead to another Oklahoma three-and-out as the Tide would get the ball back at the Oklahoma 39-yard-line with a chance to take the lead.

The Tide would drive all the way to the Oklahoma three-yard-line as they lined up to attempt a 20-yard field goal only for Bearden, who was the holder, to keep the ball and run it himself for a three-yard touchdown that with the extra point gave Alabama a 24-23 lead with 10:16 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Sooners would pick up their first 1st down of the second half before punting the ball back to the Tide who once again got the ball in Oklahoma territory as they began their next possession at the Sooners' 46-yard-line.

The Tide would run off nearly five minutes off the clock as they drove to the Oklahoma 28-yard-line before settling for a 45-yard field goal by Ziifie to extend Alabama's lead to 27-23 with 3:37 left in the game.

The Sooners would start their next drives at their 20-yard-line needing a touchdown to take the lead which seemed unlikely at this point as Oklahoma's total offense in the second half was -5 yards on five possessions.

Coming off the bench, Oklahoma quarterback Nate Hybl would complete 16 of 30 passes for 251 yards and throw one touchdown pass.

Following an incomplete pass to begin the drive, Hybl would throw a shovel pass to running back Renaldo Works that would go for a 23-yard gain to give the Sooners a 1st down at their 43-yard-line.

After a pair of incomplete passes would force Oklahoma into a 3rd & 10 situation, Hybl would connect with wide receiver Antwone Savage for the 10 yards the Sooners needed as Oklahoma moved into Alabama territory with a fresh set of downs at the Tide 47-yard-line.

That is when Hybl throw another shovel pass to Works, which this time went for 39 yards to give Oklahoma a 1st & goal at the Alabama eight-yard-line when Hybl handed the ball off to Jones, who would run it in for the touchdown to give Oklahoma a 30-27 lead with 2:11 left to play in regulation.

The Tide would get the ball back at their 21-yard-line needing at least a field goal to send the game into overtime or a go-ahead touchdown as following an one-yard loss to start the drive, Watts would complete three passes for 37 yards to move Alabama to the Oklahoma 43-yard-line twith less than a minute to play.

Needing at least one more 1st down, Watts would drop back to pass when the ball slipped out of his hand before it went forward, resulting a fumble that was picked up by Oklahoma defensive back Eric Bassey who ran it back for a 45-yard touchdown to put the game away as the Sooners would escape with the 37-27 win.

Alabama would go on to have a solid season as they would go to finish with a 10-3 record to finish ranked #11 in the AP poll only for the Tide to lose their head coach as Franchione left Tuscaloosa to became the head coach of the Texas A&M Aggies.

Franchione would be temporary replaced by Washington State head coach Mike Price until Price was fired before coaching a single game because of an off the field sex scandal as former Bama quarterback Mike Shula would eventually become the Tide head coach for the 2003 season.

As for the Sooners, they would ride with Hybl as their starting quarterback to a 8-0 start until a pair of losses to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State in the final month of the regular season would derail Oklahoma's national championship hopes.

But the Sooners would recover to win the Big 12 Championship with a 29-7 win over the Colorado Buffaloes as Oklahoma would be invited to play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in school history as the Sooners would dispatch of the Washington State Cougars 34-14 as Oklahoma would finish the season with a 12-2 record and #5 ranking in both the final AP and coaches polls.