NORMAN, Okla. — As the clock hit zero, as Oklahoma fans flooded the field at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on Saturday night, a reality hit Alabama football .
It had been lurking, one that reared its head in postgame locker rooms in Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee, always tinged with hope. However small it may felt after losses to Vanderbilt and Tennessee, there was something to cling to: hope.
After the Crimson Tide's 24-3 road loss to Oklahoma, there was no hope left on which to cling.
An SEC Championship Game bid? Evaporated with Alabama's third loss .
A College Football Playoff berth?
Almost certainly gone.
National championship hopes? No more.
The early signing period opens Dec. 4. Bowl assignments come Dec. 8. The transfer portal opens Dec. 9.
The end of the first season of the Kalen DeBoer era officially has a timer.
DeBoer tried to keep his head high as the first Crimson Tide coach with three losses to his name since Nick Saban in 2010. There's a game ahead, he said, an Iron Bowl to regroup for, an Auburn meeting to for which to stick together.
DeBoer's call for the Crimson Tide ? Just keep playing, have pride and finish the job. But in that call, it wasn't about something to play for; not anymore. It was about the promise each player made by joining his roster.
"That's the commitment we make to each other when we first, when we come in here, when you sign up to play for Alabama ," DeBoer said. "You make that commitment to each other, the brotherhood. There's nothing in that room right now that says that there's anyone saying it's someone else that needs to be better. It's win and lose as a team.
"We made that commitment not just towards each other, but that we're going to finish. We're going to finish everything we do."
It's a promise Jalen Milroe plans to keep for another week, saying that despite challenge, despite hardship, "it's all about finish."
"There's so much left in the football season," Milroe said. "Get everyone together, have the like-mindedness and just keep on competing. Keep on competing in every opportunity that we have. We just got to seize it."
What about past Alabama vs. Auburn? What about playing one last game for the Crimson Tide in a bowl game?
"I'm just worried about Auburn right now," Milroe said.
Auburn is all offensive lineman Tyler Booker sees now. He can't do anything now to fix what happened on the field in Norman. It's all about "preparing our tails off" for the Iron Bowl to "avoid this feeling for next week."
And Booker sees a locker room with that same demeanor.
"Everybody who's here wants to be here," Booker said. "Like nobody's jumping ship. Everybody who's here wants to be here. Just the love that we all have for one another. That's what's going to keep us together. And we're going to continue to stay together. We're going to continue to improve with however-many games we have left. We're not worried about anything past next week. We're just worried about going 1-0 this week coming up."
Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell is not thinking about the big picture. He's moving forward, eyes focused on a game that was going to come win or lose Saturday night in Norman.
"Just keep going," Campbell said. "One bad play don't define you. Another loss don't define you as a football player or as a person in life. I think the main thing is to learn from the lessons and keep going."
Alabama faces Auburn at 2:30 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium Saturday, Nov. 30, on ABC.
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: Can Kalen DeBoer keep Alabama football together for Iron Bowl?
