Alabama QB AJ McCarron breaks school single-season passing record in Sugar Bowl defeat

Oklahoma Sooners linebacker Eric Striker (19) strips the ball as he sacks AJ McCarron to end Alabama's chances during the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Thursday, January 2, 2014. (Photo by Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

For Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, cracking the Sugar Bowl and Crimson Tide record books wasn't enough for victory Thursday.

In his final college game, the senior set the Alabama single-season passing mark with 3,063 yards, becoming the first-ever Alabama quarterback to reach the 3,000-yard milestone in a season, and a new personal game career high of 387 yards in a 19-of-30 night.

McCarron is also the 12th quarterback in the 80 years of Sugar Bowl history to break 300 yards passing in the game, and his landmark season total broke Greg McElroy's record of 2,987 yards set in 2010.

He threw for 301 yards in the first half alone, but only 86 in the second half, as No. 3 Alabama ultimately lost to No. 11 Oklahoma, 45-31. Both McCarron and Oklahoma redshirt freshman Trevor Knight surpassed 300 yards through the air, the first time that two signal-callers have reached that plateau in the same Sugar Bowl.

But McCarron, normally reliable in ball security, tossed two costly interceptions, tying his season high, that stymied Alabama drives in the first half. The Sooners capitalized on the miscues by scoring two touchdowns, and also returned a McCarron fumble for an 8-yard touchdown with less than a minute to play to account for the final margin. 

Oklahoma junior defensive end Geneo Grissom recovered both Alabama fumbles, and he said capitalizing on Alabama's mistakes were critical in propelling the Sooners to the Sugar Bowl title.

"Coach (Bob) Stoops told us before the start of the game that turnovers would be huge," Grissom said. "Without turnovers it would be harder to win the game. We were able to get those turnovers, and luckily the ball popped out right in front of me both times."

McCarron, who was sacked seven times, shouldered the blame after the loss, though senior wide receiver Kevin Norwood immediately jumped to support his teammate.

"Oklahoma did a good job of mixing things up, showing us some things we hadn't seen," McCarron said. "But you put it all on me. I had two turnovers ... I wish it wouldn't have happened, but I'll definitely take the loss and definitely take the blame, because a lot of it is probably my fault."

Said Norwood: "We all win and lose together. (McCarron) can't put it all on himself. I can't let him do that ... It's all on us and we didn't come out and play like we should." 

Alabama coach Nick Saban said he's not blaming a lack of focus for the team's loss, in which it tallied 516 yards of total offense. But an opportunistic Oklahoma team accumulated 28 points off Alabama's four turnovers.

"Oklahoma really out-played us, and I really can't blame it on the lack of focus," Saban said. "Everyone that plays us has something to prove. And (our players) have to change the way they think, and that's difficult to do. And they've gotta stick with the process with what they have to do to do it, and it's tough." McCarron shined right off the bat when Alabama received the opening kickoff at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, engineering a 75-yard touchdown drive in the first 1 minute, 49 seconds of the game. When T.J. Yeldon plowed into the end zone from 1 yard out, his score capped the fastest offensive start to a Sugar Bowl game since 1998. In the 2012-13 Sugar Bowl, Louisville's opening touchdown to take a 7-0 lead spanned just 15 seconds, but it came defensively on an interception return.

Junior wide receiver DeAndrew White helped McCarron's cause by hauling in a pair of 60-plus yard catches, a 63-yarder on Alabama's first possession, and a 67-yard touchdown in the second quarter. He finished with 139 yards, all in the first half, and set a Sugar Bowl record with a 46.3-yard average per reception.

McCarron also bombed a 60-yard pass to true freshman running back Derrick Henry to pull Alabama within 38-31 in the fourth quarter.

COLLINS, MOSLEY GET DEFENSIVE: Alabama sophomore defensive back and Dutchtown product Landon Collins snagged his second interception of the season when he picked off Trevor Knight on Oklahoma's opening drive at the Alabama 24-yard line for Alabama's 11th interception as a team. It was Oklahoma's only turnover of the game, and Alabama couldn't capitalize.

Collins' other interception this season came Oct. 26 against Tennessee, an 89-yard pick-six that helped earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Week.

Alabama senior linebacker C.J. Mosley also passed Woodrow Lowe for third on the school's all-time list in tackles, recording six Thursday to reach 319 career tackles.

SCORING MACHINES:Before Thursday's Sugar Bowl, Alabama's previous high in points allowed was in Week 2 at Texas A&M, a 49-42 win. In addition, the 31 points Alabama allowed to Oklahoma in the first half were the most surrendered in any half by the Crimson Tide this season. Entering Thursday's game, Alabama had allowed just 52 points total in the first half all season.
For the Crimson Tide offensively, Yeldon's rushing touchdown less than two minutes into the game quickly extended Alabama's streak of consecutive games with a score to 169 - the longest stretch in program history.