No. 9Alabamaripped off 27 straight points after a horrific start to beat No. 8 Oklahoma 34-24 in the first round of theCollege Football Playoffon Friday night.
The Sooners led 17-0 with 10:51 to go in the second quarter after John Mateer hit Isaiah Sategna III for a 7-yard score. Less than 10 minutes later, Alabama had the game tied at 17-17 in the midst of a flurry that stretched through the third quarter.
After Oklahoma cut Alabama's lead to three at the start of the fourth quarter, the Tide pushed the lead back to 10 on a 6-yard TD run by Daniel Hill with less than 7:30 to go. His touchdown was set up by Germie Bernard's incredible catch as Bernard reached over an Oklahoma defender's helmet to set up first-and-goal.
GERMIE BERNARD WITH WHAT MAY BE THE CATCH OF THE YEAR 🤯pic.twitter.com/wtnW47NkF5
— College Football Report (@CFBReport)December 20, 2025
Oklahoma (10-3) promptly went three-and-out after Hill's TD. The Sooners had the faintest of hopes with just under three minutes left but kicker Tate Sandell — the Lou Groza Award winner for best kicker — missed just his second field goal of the season as OU tried to cut Alabama's lead to one possession.
Given the way the game started, it was once impossible to envision how Oklahoma was going to need a comeback. But the Sooners' disastrous second quarter let Alabama back into the game.
The Crimson Tide (11-3) will face No. 1Indianain the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.
How Oklahoma unraveled
The Tide had 12 yards on their first three possessions and didn't get their first first down of the game until they trailed by 17 points. But that first down came on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 10-yard TD pass from Ty Simpson to Lotzeir Brooks.
Oklahoma had a great chance to push the lead back to 17 points as Mateer escaped the pocket on third down and had a wide-open Xavier Robinson downfield. But Mateer's pass went through Robinson's hands. Robinson might have scored a TD had he caught the pass. At worst, Oklahoma would have been in the red zone.
Gotta catch thatpic.twitter.com/TWK8xeMZ9K
— NFL Paint (@NFLPaint)December 20, 2025
Things immediately got worse after the drop. As Oklahoma punted the ball to the Tide on the next play, reliable punter Grayson Miller simply dropped the ball as he went to kick it. The drop resulted in a blocked punt and an Alabama field goal to cut the lead to seven points.
BLOCKED ❌📺ABC/ESPNpic.twitter.com/T2CJTkyTyg
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff)December 20, 2025
Four plays after the field goal, Alabama had the game tied. Mateer clearly got confused by Alabama's coverage and threw a pass straight into the arms of a wide-open Zabien Brown. The problem, of course, was that Brown is an Alabama defensive back and not an Oklahoma receiver, and he ran 50 yards the other way for a pick-6.
GIMME THAT!!! 😤😤😤pic.twitter.com/zubvWHDdYt
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL)December 20, 2025
The Tide found themselves tied at halftime despite having minus-3 rushing yards and just 100 total yards in the first half.
And they took their first lead of the game with 11:21 to go in the third when Brooks caught his second touchdown of the game.
Oklahoma took down Alabama in November
Friday night's box score had a lot of similarities to the stats from Oklahoma's win in Tuscaloosa in November. But with the teams flipped.
The Sooners had just 212 yards of offense in their 23-21 win over Alabama — a game that essentially put Oklahoma in the playoff and gave the Sooners home-field advantage on Friday night. They forced three Alabama turnovers in that game and got a pick-6 themselves, as Alabama significantly outgained Oklahoma.
This time, Oklahoma had 98 more yards than Alabama. But it was Alabama that took advantage of special teams mistakes and got a defensive touchdown.
Alabama officially finished with just 28 rushing yards after sacks and kneel downs. Even taking out QB Ty Simpson's minus-22 rushing yards and the kneel downs, Hill and Jam Miller combined to have just 16 carries for 54 yards. And 30 of those yards came on one run by Hill.
Simpson finished the game 18-of-29 passing for 232 yards and the two TD passes to Brooks. The freshman receiver had five catches for 79 yards.
A bitter end for the Sooners
No one mistook Oklahoma for a national title favorite entering the College Football Playoff. But the Sooners closed as favorites on Friday night and, in the game's early stages, the offense looked the best it had since Mateer broke his hand late in the Week 4 win over Auburn.
Instead, Oklahoma found itself in a familiar position of being unable to run the ball as well. The Sooners had to rely a lot on Mateer to make plays with his feet. After the pass rush was nonexistent in the first half, Alabama cranked the pressure up in the second and finished with five sacks of Mateer as he ended up with 19 rushing attempts for 15 yards. Mateer was 26-of-41 passing for 307 yards and two touchdowns.
With Mateer's eligibility now up after his one season in Norman after transferring from Washington State, Oklahoma will be looking for a new quarterback ahead of the 2026 season. Will the Sooners dip into the transfer market for a QB for the second straight season? Will Michael Hawkins get the chance to be the Week 1 starter after starting games in each of his first two seasons at OU?
No matter who plays QB, Oklahoma has to be better on offense. Coach Brent Venables' defense was elite. But the ceiling of this Oklahoma team was ultimately limited by its offense.
See how it all played out below:
