- - Alabama shakes off slow start, downs Oklahoma in CFP opener

Field Level MediaDecember 20, 2025 at 8:03 AM

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Dec 19, 2025; Norman, OK, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) looks to make a pass in the first half against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family OK Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

NORMAN, Okla. -- Trailing by 17 points in the second quarter, Alabama looked as if it were on the verge of a collapse.

Instead, the ninth-ranked Crimson Tide rose to the occasion, roaring back to beat No. 8 Oklahoma 34-24 on Friday in the College Football Playoff opener.

"This group is tight enough to where there's never been any finger-pointing," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. "If you just keep fighting, you're going to force them to make a mistake. The game came back to us, and we were able to make some plays."

The Crimson Tide (11-3) will take on top-ranked Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Alabama became the first road team to win a CFP game on campus after all four home teams won in the opening round of last year's inaugural 12-team field.

The Sooners (10-3) had their four-game winning streak snapped and became only the second team to blow a 17-point lead or more in a CFP game. The other was Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl after the 2017 season.

"When we needed to, we couldn't pull one out like we have several other games this year," Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said.

After Alabama scored 27 consecutive points, the Sooners cut the deficit to 27-24 early in the fourth quarter on Deion Burks' 37-yard touchdown reception shortly after 50 Cent performed "Many Men" on the field.

Oklahoma got the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead but had to punt. Alabama then got a 24-yard catch from Germie Bernard that set up a Daniel Hill 6-yard touchdown run, stretching the lead back to 10, and the Sooners never seriously threatened again.

Bernard had three catches for 40 yards, but the grab on which he wrested the ball from Oklahoma's Jacobe Johnson to give the Crimson Tide the ball at the 5 was one of the highlights of the game.

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns, both to Lotzeir Brooks. The freshman receiver finished with five catches for 79 yards.

The Sooners outgained Alabama 362-260, but were outgained 160-126 in the second half.

Sooners quarterback John Mateer finished with 307 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Burks had a season-high seven catches for 107 yards.

Though the Crimson Tide took over in the second half, it was the closing minutes of the first half that set the tone.

In the teams' first meeting of the season, a 23-21 road win for Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide struggled on special teams while the Sooners excelled there and cashed in with a defensive touchdown.

On Friday, it was Alabama that came up big on special teams and scored on defense.

Sooners punter Grayson Miller dropped the ball to the turf late in the first half, and by the time he picked it up, Tim Keenan III was there to block it.

With good field position, Alabama soon kicked a 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 17-10.

Less than a minute later, Zabien Brown stepped in front of a Mateer pass for an interception and raced 50 yards for the score to tie the game entering halftime.

Mateer put Oklahoma on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run on the Sooners' second drive, and Tate Sandell's 51-yard field goal made it 10-0 in the final minute of the first quarter.

Sandell, the Lou Groza Award winner as the nation's top kicker, tied an FBS record with his eighth field goal of 50 or more yards on the season.

In the final minutes of the game, Sandell missed a pair of field goals, his first misses since early September.

The Sooners extended their lead to 17-0 less than five minutes into the second quarter on Mateer's 7-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Sategna III.

To that point, the Crimson Tide didn't have a first down, going three-and-out on each of their first three possessions.

But then Alabama started turning the momentum.

Simpson led a 75-yard touchdown drive, putting the Crimson Tide on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brooks on fourth-and-2.

"People tried to write us off," Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson said. "That's when we're at our best."

--Ryan Aber, Field Level Media

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Source: “AOL Sports”