Alabama football needed something, anything, to get the offense going against Oklahoma.

It looked like it finally got it from Ryan Williams in the fourth quarter. Williams leaped and grabbed a 34-yard pass for a touchdown on fourth down with 14:07 left.

It would have made the game 24-10. Still a sizable deficit for Alabama, but a whole lot better than 24-3.

The officials threw a flag on the play. No touchdown. Illegal touching was the call. And it’s a loss of downs, so Oklahoma got the ball.

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer became heated on the sideline with the official.

After No. 7 Alabama lost to the Sooners 24-3 on Saturday in Norman, Oklahoma, DeBoer was asked what explanation the officials gave him.

“They said it was an illegal touching, so someone would have had to have been covered up,” DeBoer said. “You know, ineligible.”

ABC rules analyst Bill LeMonnier called it an incorrect call.

“I personally don’t see the cover-up there,” LeMonnier said on the broadcast. “I’ve got two (receivers) in the backfield to the right and one guy up on the line of scrimmage.”

Maybe the touchdown counting wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the game. Maybe it would have. But either way, Alabama played an ugly brand of football and should have never been in the position it was, down three touchdowns to an Oklahoma team that had won only one other SEC game.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.