No. 9 Alabama 34, No. 8 Oklahoma 24: Upon Further Review

The No. 9 Alabama football team overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half on Friday night and defeated No. 9 Oklahoma (10-3) 34-24 in the first round of the College Football Playoff in Norman. It was the Crimson Tide's first win against the Sooners in three meetings since Oklahoma joined the SEC. Alabama also officially locked up an unbeaten road conference slate in 2025 with the victory.

"We just kept plugging away," Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer said after the comeback win. "A lot of times, it’s just guys making plays and just continue to stay the course. And we just talked about that so much this offseason."

The result sent Alabama (11-3) into the 2026 Rose Bowl against No. 1 Indiana. The unbeaten Hoosiers have never faced the Crimson Tide in program history. Alabama last appeared in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day 2024, dropping an overtime game against Michigan in the final four-team College Football Playoff.

Player of the Game: Sophomore cornerback Zabien Brown left the SEC Championship Game early with an injury. The rest period between that contest and the College Football Playoff allowed Brown to get back on the gridiron for the Oklahoma matchup, and he made a difference with a pick-six late in the second quarter, three solo tackles and a pass breakup. Brown has recorded two interceptions this season, and both ended with him in the end zone.

Play of the Game: When Alabama went down by 17 points after its offense only mustered a single touchdown in the team's last outing, things looked several notches above dire. The Crimson Tide rallied in the second quarter, scoring 10 points, and was poised to get the football first after halftime. With one minute and 26 seconds to go, Sooners quarterback John Mateer threw the football right to Brown, who ran it back 50 yards for a game-tying touchdown to make the halftime score 17-all.

Instead of being down a touchdown (or more) at the break, Alabama had drawn things level with Brown's huge play. DeBoer's squad ended up scoring 27 unanswered points before ending the game on a remarkable 34-7 run. Brown's interception was one of the major sparks the defense needed.

"It gave us a lot of life going to the locker room at halftime," DeBoer said. "Just kept applying more pressure and applying more pressure."

Stat of the Game: One thing Alabama could not afford to do if it wanted to win Friday's game was fail to force any turnovers. That's what happened in November during the regular season, when the Sooners walked into Bryant-Denny Stadium and won 23-21. The Crimson Tide made multiple backbreaking mistakes in that game, but did not induce any, and lost the turnover battle 3-0. In the postseason rematch, Alabama did not turn the football over and was only officially credited with one turnover, Brown's interception and subsequent score, but it accomplished one of the keys to the game: it won the turnover margin.

10 things you may not have noticed...

1. In both 2025 games between Alabama and Oklahoma, the team with the most total yards lost.

John Mateer. — Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) throws a pass during a first-round College Football Playoff game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. Alabama won 34-24. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Turnovers were Alabama's doom last month when it lost at home to the Sooners. That result happened despite the fact that the Crimson Tide outgained Oklahoma 406-212 in total yards. The script was flipped in Norman on Friday: The Sooners mustered 362 yards, while Alabama only had 260. Mateer had 75 more passing yards than Ty Simpson.

2. Lotzeir Brooks' first two collegiate touchdowns came in a game where he set a new career high in receiving yards.

Without true freshman Lotzeir Brooks, Alabama likely would not have advanced to the Rose Bowl. He led Crimson Tide pass-catchers with 79 yards, a career best, and caught both of Simpson's two touchdowns. The speedy Brooks had one touchdown reception in each half, including the first Alabama score of the night and the first of his career. In do-or-die situations, it isn't always the veteran players who set career marks. Brooks is no stranger to playing time, but the reps he got on Friday were his most important to date. His previous career high in receiving yardage was 67 against LSU on Nov. 8.

3. Ty Simpson posted his highest passer rating since mid-October.

The Crimson Tide signal caller's 152.0 passer rating, which he achieved after going 18-of-29 for 232 yards and the aforementioned two scores, was Simpson's highest since the team's Oct. 18 home win over Tennessee. The redshirt junior completed 19 passes and had a 161.6 passer rating in that rivalry tilt.

4. Sophomore Daniel Hill was the leading rusher, not just for Alabama, but for both teams.

The Crimson Tide's running game hasn't exactly set the world on fire in 2025, but Daniel Hill has played well in two games against the Sooners. He rushed for a career-high 60 yards last month, then led all rushers in Friday's game with 43 yards and a long of 30. Mateer's ability to affect the game with his legs is no mystery, and the Alabama defense tried to contain that, sacking him five times and holding him to 15 rush yards. Oklahoma's Tory Blaylock was in second behind Hill with 36 rushing yards. No other rusher on either side reached the 20-yard threshold.

5. Keon Keeley's four tackles were his most in a game, at a time when his team needed it most.

LT Overton remains out of action with an undisclosed issue, and Alabama needed action from its defensive front on the road without him. Tim Keenan III's block and recovery on a dropped Oklahoma punt in the second quarter helped in that pursuit. So did Keon Keeley, as the redshirt sophomore took advantage of his opportunity and put up a career-high four tackles in Friday's game, which included a sack.

6. Justin Jefferson more than doubled the number of tackles he had in the regular season game against the Sooners.

Linebacker Justin Jefferson upped his game from the last time Alabama played Oklahoma. In the regular season, he recorded four tackles against the Sooners. When College Football Playoff time came, he notched nine, seven of which were of the solo variety. Two more tackles Friday would've enabled Jefferson to lead the team in that category.

7. Both Zabien Brown's interceptions have come in games where he has exactly three solo tackles.

This statistic is more coincidental than others, but there is a saying that twice is a pattern, and Brown had three solo tackles against both Tennessee Oct. 18 and Oklahoma on Friday. In both of those contests, he also hauled in an interception and scored a touchdown. He does have a third game with three solo stops, Oct. 25 at South Carolina. The Crimson Tide is 3-0 in those games.

8. Jam Miller had his lowest rushing output in a game where he was given multiple carries since November of 2023.

Senior tailback Jam Miller was plainly not at 100 percent physically Friday after being out for the SEC title game with a boot on his right foot. He ran for 11 yards on seven attempts, the least rushing yards he had with more than one carry since the 2023 Iron Bowl, when he got seven yards on two rushing attempts.

9. John Mateer had the most completions against an FBS team that he's logged all year.

Mateer hasn't played his best football since a hand injury suffered in September during the game against Auburn. He passed for 307 yards in the College Football Playoff opposite Alabama, and his 26 completions were the most in a game for him since Aug. 30 against Illinois State (30 completions) and the most in a game against an FBS team overall. It wasn't enough to send the Crimson Tide home, partially because of the pick-six by Brown.

10. Deontae Lawson had his first 10-tackle game of the season on the same field where he got injured last year.

Defensive captain Deontae Lawson has been all over the field this season, with two nine-tackle games before Friday, when he had 10 total tackles. That was his first 10-plus tackle game of 2025, and he did it after having three last year and while playing on the same turf where he suffered an injury that ended his 2024 season last November. If it hadn't been for that injury, Lawson might not even still be playing college football.