Jalen Milroe had minimal rushing success against Oklahoma.

The Alabama football quarterback ran 15 times and tallied only seven yards.

Just two weeks prior, he had rushed for 185 yards on 12 carries and four touchdowns on the road against LSU.

What changed? It was among many questions about the lackluster offensive effort.

“I think there was a little bit, at times, a little bit too much lateral running that occurred,” Alabama offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said. “And so, we watched the tape, just encouraging him to be a little more north/south in some of those moments, just to have a little bit more production. There’s a fine line there. Obviously he’s making instinctual plays and trying to create, you know, plays. He’s trying to create explosive plays, but I think there were times in the game where he could have been a little bit more north/south and a little bit more decisive that way, when he ran the ball.”

Without Milroe being able to run, the offense couldn’t get much anything going. Alabama managed only three points in a 24-3 loss to the Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma. It marked the first game since 2011 that Alabama hasn’t scored a touchdown.

“It’s hard to explain,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said about stopping Milroe from running. “Just discipline and physicality. There’s a timeliness to it. There’s how we defended several of the runs, there was a little bit of deception, and the players executed at an incredibly high level. The staff did a fantastic job of putting together a bulletproof plan and having answers.

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