Alabama Withstands Oklahoma Attack Early, Wins in Norman

NORMAN, Okla. - Alabama was back in the College Football Playoff for the ninth time in its program history, but for the first time, the Crimson Tide would go on the road in the first round.

The Tide faced a rematch of a regular-season loss Alabama suffered in Tuscaloosa in November, with a road trip to Norman, Oklahoma, and a date with the Sooners standing between Alabama and the granddaddy of them all: The Rose Bowl.

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The atmosphere in Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium was phenomenal, with a drone light show setting up a matchup of college football titans under the lights in Oklahoma. The Sooners were looking for their first playoff victory since the implementation of the format in 2014, while Alabama had revenge on its mind from the last two matchups with Oklahoma.

The Sooners drew first blood on a windy night in Norman, Oklahoma, with John Mateer and the Oklahoma offense capitalizing on short field positioning on just its second drive of the game. Sooner quarterback John Mateer capped a 59-yard drive with an eight-yard rushing touchdown, juking and dancing by Alabama defenders on his way to the endzone.

The Sooners quickly struck again, thanks to good field positioning. Oklahoma's third drive of the game went just 13 yards in six plays, but it was enough for Lou Groza Award winner Tate Sandell to make a 51-yard field goal. At the end of the first quarter, it was all Oklahoma, as the Sooners led Alabama 10-0.

The Sooners, again, drew blood early in the second quarter. A 63-yard drive by the Sooners saw several key plays made by Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, who looked like the Heisman candidate that he was earlier in the season before his thumb injury. Mateer capped the drive by tossing a seven-yard touchdown to Isaiah Sategna III to give the Sooners a 17-point lead with 10 minutes left until Alabama could make any halftime adjustments.

Alabama, finally, showed some life on offense with the Tide's fourth offensive possession. Alabama not only picked up its first first down of the game, but worked its way downfield in nine plays, going 75 yards, capping the drive with a Ty Simpson touchdown pass to Lotzeir Brooks to give Alabama points on the board. If Alabama's defense got a stop on its next drive, the Tide could claw its way back into the matchup versus the Sooners.

Alabama's defense came up with a big stop on Oklahoma's next drive, and finally benefited from a special team's blunder. Oklahoma's punter dropped the initial snap, allowing defensive lineman Tim Keenan III time to burst through blockers and block the punt. Keenan recovered it, and Alabama was able to cut the deficit back to a one-score game after a Conor Talty 35-yard field goal.

On back-to-back drives for Oklahoma, the Alabama defense came up clutch, providing life for the Crimson Tide. On third down, John Mateer threw a simple timing route to the left flat. The problem? Zabien Brown was the only player nearby, and he intercepted the pass from Mateer, running 50 yards the other direction for the game-tying score for the Crimson Tide.

The second half started with big plays defensively for both teams, as Oklahoma's defense watched Ryan Williams drop a critical third down pass, and Alabama's defense did the same with Sooner wide receiver Isaiah Sategna III. The Crimson Tide flipped the script on the Sooners from the first half, with quarterback Ty Simpson looking like the player who led Alabama to four straight ranked wins during the middle of the season. Simpson kept his cool in the pocket and struck downfield, hitting true freshman wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks for his second touchdown of the game on a 30-yard dart that gave the Tide its first lead of the game.

Alabama added insurance in the third quarter following the Brooks touchdown reception, with kicker Conor Talty making his second field goal of the game, this one from 40 yards out. The Crimson Tide held a 10-point lead late in the third quarter. This game looked completely lopsided in the first half, with Oklahoma jumping out to a 17-0 lead. Alabama then went on a run, scoring 27 unanswered points.

The Sooners wouldn't go quietly.

Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer stopped the bleeding after the Tide's 27 unanswered points, finding wide receiver Deion Burks 37 yards down the field for a Sooner touchdown, cutting Alabama's lead back to three points. Both offenses, which had struggled awfully coming into Friday night, suddenly couldn't be stopped very often in the first round of the playoffs.

Alabama punched in a touchdown on its next offensive drive, thanks to running back Daniel Hill.

A 34-7 run after being down 17-0 will give Alabama a 34-24 win over Oklahoma in the first round of the CFP. The Crimson Tide will face Indiana in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2026.

Our coverage of the first round of the College Football Playoff between Alabama and Oklahoma is brought to you by Pearl River Resort and the Sportsbook at Golden Moon Casino.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.