Oklahoma Sooners most to blame for 17-point CFP collapse against Alabama

The Oklahoma Sooners had everything going their way in their first-round College Football Playoff matchup with the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Sooners had jumped all over the visitors with a 17-0 lead and all they had to do was not collapse on their homefield. In the first two years of the expanded college postseason, home teams rolled to victories in 7 of 8 games.

The one game that did not happen was the Alabama-Oklahoma meeting. A poor start by Alabama ended up meaning nothing to the Crimson Tide. They buckled up their chin straps, kept playing one play at a time and came through with a 34-24 victory.

The Sooners had an excellent regular season as head coach Brent Venables had one of the best defenses in college football. That defense was good enough to earn Oklahoma a home game in the College Football Playoffs. Most expected them to take the measure of their first-round opponent. However, the Oklahoma offense did not have the juice to take advantage of a great start. Oklahoma did not find a way to outlast an opponent that had been knocked back on their heels in the early going.

Great start by Mateer could not be sustained

There were multiple mistakes in this game by the Sooners, and it starts with quarterback John Mateer. He is clearly a talented signal caller who has a talented throwing arm and excellent athletic ability. Mateer got the Sooners off to a great start in this game as he scored on an 8-yard run for the first touchdown of the game. That play culminated an 8-play, 59-yard drive.

After Oklahoma added a field goal to take a 10-0 lead into the second quarter, Mateer showed off his passing accuracy. He connected with wide out Isiah Sategna on a 7-yard TD pass. The Oklahoma advantage grew to 17-0 and Alabama appeared to be stunned as Mateer paid off an 8-play, 63-yard drive.

But instead of continuing to hammer their opponent, the Crimson Tide woke up with 10 consecutive points of their own. Lotzeir Brooks caught a 10-yard TD pass from quarterback Ty Simpson to get the Crimson Tide on the board. Oklahoma could not move the ball on its next possession and had to punt. Inexplicably, Grayson Miller dropped the ball on a punt attempt, and Alabama defensive tackle Tim Keenan recovered the bouncing ball. That led to Conor Talty’s 35-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 17-10.

The Sooners got the ball back with 2:08 remaining in the half and Mateer was attempting to move the ball into field goal territory. However, on s 2nd-and-10 play from the Oklahoma 46, Mateer’s pass toward the sidelines was intercepted by Zabien Brown at midfield and he took it all the way for the tying touchdown

Alabama had new life in the second half

The Alabama had new life after going into the locker room after tying the score. Alabama had been outplayed for 25 minutes in the first half, but the final 5 minutes turned the game in Alabama’s favor.

The defense was all over Mateer from that point in the game and the quarterback was sacked 5 times. The tendency is to blame to the offensive line for the QB traps. However,  Mateer’s inability to get rid of the football was they key reason behind those negative plays.

Mateer has plenty of talent and he can get the job done with his arm and his legs. He completed 26 of 41 passes for 307 yards with 2 TD passes against Alabama. However, the quarterback often suffers from multiple lapses in the game. This often keeps his team from adding to their lead or coming back when the Sooners trail.

Mateer is this team’s quarterback and he will most likely be back in 2026 for his senior year. He does not look like a first-round draft choice at this point, so returning to the Sooners would be a positive step for his development.  As a result, it is up to the quarterback and offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to find a way to avoid the mistakes that cost the team against Alabama and in other situations this season.

The Sooners also have issues with their running game and their offensive line. These were significant problem areas against Alabama and throughout the season, and must be improved in 2026.

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