No. 9 Alabama defeated No. 8 Oklahoma 34-24 in the First Round of the College Football Playoff Friday night and will advance to play No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl.
The Crimson Tide overcame a 17-point deficit which tied Georgia’s comeback against Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl for the record for largest comeback in CFP history. The win also marked the first ever road playoff victory in the history of the sport.
“The complementary football and the fight that they had and stepping up to make plays on both sides of the football when you have to, that’s the dream,” offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said.
Oklahoma opened with possession and converted an early third down but was ultimately held to a punt just inside Alabama territory. This set the Crimson Tide up for poor field position for its opening drive inside its own 15.
Alabama was unable to pick up a first down and was forced to punt deep in its own end. Punter Blake Doud’s boot landed at the Sooner 40 yard-line, giving the OU offense a relatively short field for its second drive of the game.
An early dart from quarterback John Mateer to wide receiver Jer’Michael Carter equipped Oklahoma with some momentum. The strike put the Sooners in position for an eight-yard touchdown run from Mateer to give Oklahoma a 7-0 lead with 5:29 left in the first.
Alabama’s next drive was doomed from the start. A poor kickoff return and a sack for the Sooners placed the Crimson Tide at its own six for a second-and-18. Despite making up a little ground, Alabama was forced to punt again.
A short punt set Oklahoma up inside Alabama territory. The Sooners took advantage with a 51-yard field goal to put the home team up 10-0 with under a minute to play in the first quarter.
Running back Jam Miller set his offense up with a chance to move the chains on the next drive, but the team was unsuccessful and had to punt again to start the second quarter.
Mateer then found wide receiver Deion Burks for a long first down and put the Sooners back in Alabama territory. He continued to carve up the Crimson Tide defense and found a wide-open receiver in the endzone to give OU a 17-0 lead with 10:51 on the clock in the second quarter.
In a drive where it needed to prove it had a pulse, Alabama went on a drive that lasted 10:51 and covered 75 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown reception by freshman receiver Lotzeir Brooks on fourth and two from the Oklahoma 10 yard-line.
“We’ve got really good players, so Lotzeir made a really good play,” quarterback Ty Simpson said.
The Sooners took over with 6:52 left in the half and looked to kill the Crimson Tide’s hope, but Alabama’s defense held strong and forced a punt attempt. The attempt was blocked by defensive tackle Tim Keenan III and set the Crimson Tide up at the OU 30 with 4:30 left.
Simpson took a sack on first down, and Alabama ultimately had to line up for a field goal attempt. The Crimson Tide tacked on a 35-yarder via kicker Conor Talty to close the gap to 17-10 with 2:08 left in the first half.
Crimson pandemonium then ensued when cornerback Zabien Brown picked off Mateer and took it 50 yards to the house to tie the football game at 17 with 1:14 left in the half.
“When you can not only flip the field, but then score in that situation, [that’s] really awesome,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said.
The Crimson Tide picked up a couple first downs to open the second half but had to punt after wide receiver Ryan Williams dropped a would-be first down on third down.
Mateer and the Sooner offense were unable to convert on their opening third down and were forced to punt on their opening possession of the half. A 15-yard penalty on OU for a late hit on the ensuing punt gave Alabama possession at its own 40.
The Crimson Tide dashed down the field with a 30-yard rush from tailback Daniel Hill and finished off the drive with a 30-yard touchdown hookup between Simpson and Brooks to miraculously give Alabama its first lead of the game.
“I just give all credit to Ty,” Brooks said. “He just said ‘I’m gonna find you. I’m gonna find you’ the whole game, and he found me.”
Momentum continued to swing the way of the Crimson Tide as the defense racked up back-to-back sacks of Mateer to force a punt and set up the offense at its 38.
On the next drive, Alabama drove down to the Oklahoma 22, but a few drops forced the team to trot Talty out for a 40-yard field goal attempt. Talty drilled the attempt and put the Crimson Tide up 27-17 with 4:30 left in the third quarter.
Perhaps rejuvenated by a performance by 50 Cent at the quarter break, the Sooners struck just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter when Mateer found Burks for a 37-yard touchdown to narrow the score to 27-24.
Alabama’s next drive featured a 37-yard completion from Simpson to Isaiah Horton to move the change but ended with a punt after Simpson was sacked on third-and-long with 11 minutes left.
The Crimson Tide then forced a punt and looked to put the game away with a score on the next drive.
Just four plays later, running back Daniel Hill pounded in a six-yard touchdown that put the game on ice with 7:24 left at 34-24. The defense then held strong, and the offense milked the clock to give Alabama the massive victory.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these guys,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Resiliency, it’s been kind of a theme all year long.”
No. 9 Alabama and No. 1 Indiana will square off at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Jan. 1, 2026. The game is at 3 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ESPN.
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