NORMAN, Okla. — The Palace on the Prairie was rocking as the wind was sweeping down on the Oklahoma plains for the College Football Playoff curtain-raiser. The 83,550 fans in various shades of crimson were jumping around in jubilance at the start of the second quarter, causing the west-side stands of the Sooners’ Memorial Stadium to sway ever so gently.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer was having none of it, perhaps giving some greater consideration to actually becoming the next Michigan coach in a few fleeting moments of stoicism as he tried to block out a disorienting cacophony of red lights and thumping base swirling around the visitors. It looked otherwise flat on the Tide’s sideline, a game feeling like it was already out of reach for a group which was outgunned, outclassed and out of sorts after the first 15 minutes of action to fall into a three-score hole.
