NORMAN, Okla. — Alabama football nearly found its hope again in the fourth quarter against Oklahoma.
Trailing by 21 points at the beginning of the fourth quarter on the road against the Sooners , Milroe rolled out on a fourth-down play and found freshman wide receiver Ryan Williams in the end zone. Williams toe-tapped and seemingly secured a contested catch in the back of the end zone.
But the call was later reversed.
A flag was thrown as an official claimed Williams was covered up on the play, resulting in an illegal touching 5-yard penalty and a loss of down, giving the Sooners the ball back at their own 41.
Alabama lost to Oklahoma 24-3 Saturday in Norman.
DeBoer was seen on the broadcast yelling at officials, seemingly pleading for an explanation of the penalty.
But DeBoer said after the game he really did not receive an explanation.
"They said it was illegal touching, so someone had to have been covered up, (making him) ineligible" DeBoer said.
Milroe said he did not get a confirmation on the illegal touching penalty.
"But we shouldn't put ourselves in the position to be that close to allow an official to make a call," Milroe said. "We got to take full ownership, start off faster, maximize the opportunities we have in the game.
"We can't control the call," Milroe continued. "We can control how we approach each and every play. Just going 1-0 and having the mindset to maximize the next opportunity that we have in the game."
Williams finished with two catches for 37 yards on seven targets. Milroe had 11 completions on 26 pass attempts for 164 passing yards and three interceptions.
Alabama will take on Auburn at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday, Nov. 30, at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Kalen DeBoer, Jalen Milroe said about Ryan Williams penalty in Alabama vs Oklahoma
