In a game where most felt that points wouldn’t come often, the Crimson Tide and Sooners had other plans. It only took till the third quarter for the over to hit in this game, as it closed at 41.5. Alabama was able to dice up one of the best defenses in all of College Football, and they did it after being punched in the mouth early.
Alabama Defeats Oklahoma in Round 1 of the CFP
Sooners Start Hot
The game couldn’t have started better for Oklahoma, The Sooners opened the game by scoring 17 points in the first quarter and held Alabama to under 10 yards of total offense in that span. The offense for the Sooners was the big concern going in and the start of the game felt like a new team out there. John Mateer looked like himself for the first time since September, he found receivers down the middle of the field and created yardage with his legs when needed most.
His first touchdown was an eight-yard touchdown run on a QB draw, running right through the line of scrimmage and juked his way around a defender to score.
The second touchdown of the game was a seven-yard touchdown pass to Sooners top target Isaiah Sategna which made the score 17-0 in the first quarter. At this point of the game, Sooners couldn’t feel better and the Alabama faithful couldn’t have been more panicked, already wondering if head coach Kalen DeBoer was going to be leaving for the Michigan job.
The Shift in Momentum
The sequence that really turned the game upside down for Oklahoma came in the second quarter, when the Sooners were up 17-7. John Matter escaped pressure, rolled out left, and threw a perfect ball down the field to a wide-open Xavier Robinson, who dropped it. The Sooners then have to punt on fourth down, and Punter Greyson Miller gets a perfect snap, drops the ball, leading to the punt being blocked and recovered by Alabama.
Then, when it felt like it couldn’t get worse, John Mateer made a back-breaking mistake, throwing a pick-six that tied the game going into the half. The Crimson Tide took the air out of the building with the turnaround they made in such a short time.
QB Ty Simpson was elite from the second quarter on. He made every type of throw the team needed out of him, and he didn’t turn the ball over as he did against the Sooners just over a month ago. Simpson’s main target wasn’t who most fans would’ve expected, a massive offensive boost was freshman WR Lotzier Brooks, who caught not one but two touchdown passes on the night, which were also his first two touchdowns of the whole season. Brooks not only gave Alabama their first touchdown of the game, but also the one that gave them their first lead.
Alabama didn’t just thrive off of explosives either; they were able to come up with multiple methodical drives that ended with points.
Key Difference in the Rematch
In their first meeting of this season back in November, it was Alabama who had more passing yards, and led the time of possession battle, and they still lost. Ironically enough, this time it was Oklahoma who outgained Alabama by just over 100 yards, and held the ball for just over six more minutes of the game, yet the Sooners lost the game.
Turnovers can break games no matter how the stats look for each team. It showed again in last night’s CFP opener as Oklahoma seemingly played well enough to win, but a pick six and a blocked punt can change the whole look of a game, and it did again on Friday night.
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