It shouldn’t have been a close game. Oklahoma was outgained by nearly 200 yards. But missing a field goal and turning the football over 3 times will disrupt even the best teams.
And Alabama was incredibly frazzled in a 23-21 loss to the Sooners at home on Saturday.
The victory for No. 11 Oklahoma (8-2, 4-2 SEC) was its second consecutive win over a ranked opponent on the road. Forget staying alive in the College Football Playoff discussion; Saturday’s win boosted the Sooners’ odds to make the Playoff to such a degree that now you have to consider Oklahoma a safe bet to make the field.
They have 2 games remaining in the regular season. Both are at home. The first is against a Mizzou team playing with a third-string quarterback. The second is against LSU.
Oklahoma couldn’t run the football at all against the Crimson Tide. It averaged 3.4 yards per carry when you account for sacks. And quarterback John Mateer threw 23 times to gain just 138 yards. The Sooners scored 1 offensive touchdown and won in Tuscaloosa.
They call it Sooner Magic for a reason.
The defense dominated in spots, though Alabama moved the football throughout. The OU defense forced only 4 turnovers total through its first 8 games. That unit forced 3 on Nov. 1 in Knoxville and forced 3 again on Saturday.
Eli Bowen picked off a pass from Ty Simpson in the first quarter and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown. OU forced 3 fumbles throughout the game and recovered 2. The Sooners also sacked Simpson 4 times, including deep in the fourth quarter to put the Tide 11 yards behind the sticks on their final possession of the game.
Peyton Bowen knocked away a Simpson pass intended for Ryan Williams a few plays later on a fourth down to give the Sooners the ball and let Mateer kneel out the clock.
On the missed 36-yard field goal from Alabama kicker Conor Talty at the end of the first half, Taylor Wein got a finger on the ball to impact its flight.
Alabama averaged 5.4 yards per play, but Oklahoma made the plays that mattered.
For the Crimson Tide (8-2, 6-1 SEC), the loss is damaging to their SEC title hopes but not necessarily so for their CFP dreams. Alabama hosts Eastern Illinois next week before traveling to Auburn for the Iron Bowl to close out the regular season.
No. 11 Oklahoma 23, No. 4 Alabama 21
Here’s the Oklahoma-Alabama box score (use the dropdown menu to select team or player stats), followed by the complete play-by-play:
Ty Simpson vs John Mateer
How did Heisman favorite Ty Simpson fare Saturday? Here’s a statistical breakdown of how Simpson performed against Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer:
Rapid Reaction: Oklahoma upsets Alabama to keep Playoff hopes alive Saturday Down South.
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